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HISTORY 


E  N  G  L  A  N  D 


BY 


M.  E.  THALHEIMER, 

Author  of  a  Manual  of  Ancient  History ;  a  Manual  of  Mcdiceval  and 
Modern  History,  etc. 


WILSON,  HINKLE  &  CO. 

187  Walnut  Street  2  8  B  o  n  d  Street 

CINCINNATI  NEW  YORK 


Copyright 
1875 

by  Wilson,  Hinkle  &  Co 


ELECTROTYPED  AT 
FRANKLIN  TYPE  FOUNDRY 
CINCINNATI 


ECLECTIC  PRESS 
WILSON,  HINKLE  &  CO. 
CINCINNATI 


PREFACE. 


The  increasing  study  of  History  in  our  schools  is,  doubt- 
less, a  hopeful  sign  for  the  future  of  the  Republic.  A  free 
government  depends  for  its  honor,  if  not  for  its  very  life, 
upon  the  good  sense  and  moral  steadfastness  of  the  people ; 
and  these  may  be  greatly  reinforced  by  the  experience  of 
mankind.  And,  surely,  the  history  of  which  we  can  least 
afford  to  be  ignorant  is  that  of  our  mother-country. 

That  branch  of  the  great  German  race  which  was  planted 
fourteen  centuries  ago  on  British  soil,  grew,  under  exception- 
ally favoring  influences,  to  be  the  admiration  of  the  world. 
The  history  of  the  long  series  of  popular  conquests,  nobly 
won  and  firmly  held,  —  from  Magna  Charta  to  that  Bill  of 
Rights  which  was  the  prelude  to  our  own  Declaration  of 
Independence,  —  contains  a  fund  of  political  wisdom  which 
no  nation,  and  ours  the  least  of  all,  can  safely  neglect. 

Though  there  is  a  certain  literal  and  obvious  patriotism  in 
placing  the  History  of  the  United  States  first,  or  even  alone 
in  the  school  course  where  but  one  book  can  be  studied, 
yet  we  do  well  to  remember  that  English  History  is,  in  a 
very  special  sense,  our  own;  and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine 
how  the  spirit  of  American  institutions  can  be  understood, 
without  some  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  in  Great 
Britain  which  led  to  the  formation  and  afterward  to  the 
independence  of  our  earliest  states. 

In  this  point  of  view,  it  seems  a  peculiar  irony  of  Fate 
that,  until  very  recently,  the  only  school  histories  of  England 
were  of  strongly  Tory  character,  holding  up  to  dishonor  the 

(hi) 


iv 


PREFACE. 


great  statesmen  who  laid  the  foundations  of  English  and 
American  freedom.  It  was  a  mere  accident  of  their  date ; 
for  they  were  compiled  while  Hume  and  his  school  held 
undisputed  possession  of  the  field,  —  before  Macaulay  or 
Froude,  Freeman  or  Green  had  written  in  a  more  liberal 
and  truly  scholarly  spirit. 

Though  a  large  and  honorable  mass  of  our  citizens  are  of 
other  than  English  descent,  yet  it  is  English  freedom  —  the 
slow  and  sturdy  growth  of  many  centuries  —  that  they  or 
their  fathers  have  sought  to  enjoy  under  the  shelter  of  the 
great  Republic;  —  this  new  slip,  severed  a  hundred  years 
ago  from  the  parent  tree,  only  that  it  might  extend  new 
roots  and  branches  in  a  broader  field  and  under  still  freer 
heavens. 

Unless  our  nation  is  to  be  the  prodigal  child  of  the  ages, 
scorning  and  squandering  its  rich  inheritance,  our  law-makers 
of  the  next  forty  years  must  con  well  the  wisdom  which  their 
fathers  gained  by  long  centuries  of  strife.  And  if  the  same 
law-makers  are  to  be  held  to  their  duty  and  made  to  justify 
the  immense  confidence  reposed  in  them,  their  future  con- 
stituencies must  also  be  learning  their  task. 

Would  that  the  study  of  these  glorious  centuries  of  English 
History  might  convince  some  young  mind  that  the  service 
of  the  fatherland  is  not  the  degrading  affair  of  selfish  interest 
and  greed  which  some  would  make  it,  but  the  grandest  of 
all  opportunities  to  serve  God,  win  a  noble  name,  and  bene- 
fit our  race !  Would  that  there  might  be  a  Hampden  or  a 
Milton  among  the  students  of  this  little  book ! 

Brooklyn,  > 
Aug.  I,  1875.  ^ 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I.— OLD  ENGLAND. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Britain  before  the  English         ...  9 
II.  The  English  Conquest  16 

III.  The  Danish  Incursions         ....  26 

IV.  Fall  of  the  Saxons       .  .       .  -35 
V.  Danish  Kings  and  Saxon  Restoration        .  42 

VI.  Condition  of  the  People      ....  52 
Questions  for  Review  .       .       .       .  -55 

PART  II.  — FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 

I.  The  Reign  of  the  Conqueror      ...  57 
II.  Later  Norman  Kings    .....  63 

III.  The  First  of  Plantagenets  ....  70 

IV.  King  Richard  and  King  John      .       .  -75 

V.  Reign  of  Henry  III  83 

VI.        "        Edward  1  88 

VII.  Edward  II.  and  Edward  III.        ...  94 

VIII.  Reign  of  Richard  II.           .       .       .       .  102 

IX.  House  of  Lancaster  108 

X.  "      "          "         (Concluded)  .       .  .114 


(v) 


vi 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XI.  House  of  York  120 

Questions  for  Review  125 

PART  III.— THE  TUDORS. 

I.  Opening  of  the  Modern  Era       .       .  .127 
II.  Reign  of  Henry  VIII  132 

III.  "  "  (Concluded)       .       .  139 

IV.  Edward  VI.  —  Mary  1  143 

V.  Reign  of  Elizabeth       .       .       .       .  151 

Questions  for  Review  .       .       .       .  .161 

PART  IV.— THE  CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS. 

I.  Accession  of  the  House  of  Stuart      .  .162 
II.  Reign  of  Charles  I.      ....  169 

III.  The  Civil  Wars  175 

IV.  The  Commonwealth  (A.  D.  1649-1660)       .  183 
V.  The  Restoration  191 

VI.  Reign  and  Abdication  of  James  II.      .       .  200 

VII.  William  and  Mary  207 

VIII.  Reign  of  Anne      .       .       .       .       .  .212 

Questions  for  Review  .       .       .       .  .216 

PART  V.  — HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 

I.  George  I.  and  George  II   218 

II.  Reign  of  George  III.     .....  227 

III.  Wars  of  the  French  Revolution         .       .  235 

IV.  The  Regency  (A.  D.  1811-1820)   .       .       .  242 

V.  George  IV.  —  William  IV.     ....  246 


CONTENTS. 


vil 


chapter  Page 

VI.  Reign  of  Victoria        .....  250 

VII.  British  Empire  in  the  East  ....  256 

VIII.  The  British  Government      ....  263 

Questions  for  Review  .....  266 

MAPS. 

NUMBER 

I.  British  Isles;  showing  Places  of  Greatest 

Historical  Interest     .       .       .  Frontispiece 
II.  Britain  in  597  21 

III.  England  in  the  Tenth  Century     .       .  .32 

IV.  France  in  1360        ......  99 

V.  Sketch  Map  of  Hindustan      .       .       .  .258 

VI.  County  Map  of  England  and  Wales     .  .169 

GENEALOGICAL  TABLES. 

Saxon  and  Danish  Kings  56 

Norman  Line  .69 

Descent  from  Henry  II.  82 

"         "     Edward  III.  of  the  Three  Royal 

Houses  of  Lancaster,  York,  and  Tudor  .       .  119 

Descendants  of  Henry  VII  150 

House  of  Stuart     .......  206 

"       Hanover  (Brunswick)    .       .       .  .215 


PART  L- OLD  ENGLAND. 


I.   BRITAIN  BEFORE  THE  ENGLISH. 


HE  islands  which  are  now 
the  seat  of  the  British  Em- 
pire, and  a  busy  market 
of  the  world's  industry  and 
wealth,  were  for  ages  un- 
known to  all  civilized  na- 
tions. In  their  mild,  moist 
air,  dense  and  solitary  for- 
ests of  oak,  ash,  and  beech 


were  flourishing,  while  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  empires  rose 
and  fell. 

2.  Of  their  earliest  inhabitants  little  can  be  known.  Like 
other  countries  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  America,  these  islands 
bear  beneath  their  surface  many  evidences  of  a  busy  human 
life,  separated  from  our  own  by  uncounted  ages,  but  which 
teemed  in  the  broad  valleys  and  terraced  the  cliffs  long  before 
man  had  invented  letters,  or  even  the  rudest  pictures,  by 
which  to  make  record  of  his  actions.  Skeletons  of  many  a 
gigantic  beast,  now  extinct,  deeply  imbedded  in  the  peat-bogs 
of  Ireland  or  the  mosses  of  Scotland,  inclosing  the  arrow- 
head or  javelin  of  flint  which  ended  its  existence,  prove  the 

(9) 


TO 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


destructive  agency  of  man,  even  before  the  creation  of  the 
dog  and  the  horse,  his  present  brute  companions. 

3.  Naturalists  and  antiquarians  have  labored  to  describe 
the  character  of  these  prehistoric  men,  from  the  slight  indica- 
tions afforded  by  their  possessions.  Their  beads  of  amber 
and  jet,  their  rings,  bracelets,  and  necklaces  of  gold,  evince 
their  love  of  ornament.  Their  stone  mortars,  or  hand-mills, 
for  grinding  corn,  indicate  one  article  of  their  food,  while 
bones  of  lambs  and  shells  of  oysters  still  remain  as  remnants 
of  their  banquets.  Their  cultivated  terraces  on  heights  now 
abandoned  to  the  wild  fox  and  the  eagle,  are  evidences  of  a 
numerous  as  well  as  thrifty  population.  The  heavy  masonry 
of  their  tombs  and  chambered  barrows  prove  their  industry 
and  power  to  transport  great  masses  of  stone ;  and  their  cus- 
tom of  burying  with  each  person  food,  drink,  and  his  favorite 
possessions,  seems  to  imply  their  belief  in  a  future  life. 

4.  In  the  earliest  habitations,  tools  and  weapons  of  stone 
only  are  found.  The  people  of  this  age  were  in  much  the 
same  condition  as  were  the  natives  of  North  America  at  the 
time  of  its  discovery  by  white  men.  Later,  the  tin  and  cop- 
per, native  to  these  islands,  have  been  combined  into  bronze, 
affording  better  tools  for  more  skillful  work.  The  prehistoric 
centuries  are  accordingly  divided  into  the  Age  of  Stone  and 
the  Age  of  Bronze. 

5.  In  burial-fields  of  a  later  period,  iron  tools  are  found; 
but  these  were  doubtless  introduced  by  the  Celts,  who  at 
some  remote  and  unknown  time  crossed  from  the  European 
mainland.  Of  their  warfare  with  the  earlier  inhabitants,  we 
have  no  record.  When  Britain  first  became  known  to  civil- 
ized Europe,  it  was  an  undisputed  possession  of  the  Celtic 
tribes. 

6.  The  Phoenicians,  those  Yankees  of  the  ancient  world, 
in  groping  through  the  stormy  regions  of  the  northern  Atlan- 
tic, touched  the  western  extremity  of  Great  Britain,  and  the 


B.  C.  550 


ROMAN  INVASIONS. 


1 1 


cluster  of  islets  off  its  coast,  where  they  were  so  fortunate  as 
to  find  rich  deposits  of  tin.  Greek  merchant-vessels  followed 
the  Phoenicians;  but  the  history  of  the  country  begins  with 
the  arrival  of  the  Romans. 

7.  Fifty-five  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  Julius  Caesar, 
availing  himself  of  a  breathing-space  in  his  wars  with  the 
Gauls,  crossed  the  Channel  and  landed  with  two  legions  upon 
the  British  coast.  He  found  there  a  brave  but  barbarous 
people,  scantily  clothed  in  checkered  mantles  like  those  of 
the  Scotch  Highlanders,  —  their  bodies  painted  blue  and 
green,'  and  hideously  tattooed.  They  fought  in  scythe- 
armed  chariots,  somewhat  like  modern  mowing-machines, 
which  they  managed  with  wonderful  skill.  Their  seventeen 
tribes,  or  clans,  were  commonly  at  war  with  each  other; 
but  now  and  then  some  great  danger  from  without  led  them 
to  unite  under  one  chief  for  the  common  defense. 

8.  Their  entire  force,  however,  was  no  match  for  the  well- 
trained  valor  of  the  Romans.  After  several  defeats,  they 
professed  submission,  and  Caesar  withdrew  into  Gaul.  The 
Britons,  believing  that  the  danger  was  over,  broke  all  their 
promises.  The  next  summer,  Caesar  returned  in  greater 
force,  marched  northward  and  defeated  all  the  tribes  who 
had  mustered  to  resist  him,  and  burned  the  stronghold  of 
Caswallon,  their  leader,  at  St.  Albans,  north  of  the  Thames. 
He  then  departed,  and  the  Britons  were  left  nearly  a  hun- 
dred years  to  their  own  devices,  while  more  splendid  prizes 
absorbed  the  ambition  of  the  Roman  leaders. 

By  his  conquest  of  Pompey,  Caesar  became  master  of  the 
civilized  world.  His  nephew  and  heir,  Augustus,  was  the 
first  of  the  Roman  emperors,  and  matured  that  wonderful 
system  of  dominion  which  ruled  Europe  and  the  nearer  parts 
of  Asia  and  Africa,  in  fact  for  five,  and  in  name  for  more 
than  fourteen  centuries. 

g.  The  Britons,  meanwhile,  learned  the  arts  of  civilized 
life  by  their  commerce  with  Gaul  and  their  occasional  in- 


12 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  43- 


tercourse.  with  Rome.    At  length,  the  Emperor  Claudius  re- 
membered their  obscure  and  distant  island,  and 

A.  D.  43.  .  7 

sent  Aulus  Plautius  with  an  army  to  subdue  it. 
Among  the  officers  was  Vespasian,  afterward  emperor,  who 
in  one  campaign  fought  thirty  battles,  captured  twenty  fort- 
resses, and  made  himself  master  of  the  Isle  of  Wight.  All 
the  south-eastern  tribes  submitted,  and  were  organized  into  a 
Roman  province.  Claudius  himself  came,  when  all  the  fight- 
ing was  over,  to  receive  the  submission  of  the  chiefs ;  and 
celebrated  a  great  triumph  at  Rome  for^  his  victories  in 
Britain. 

10.  The  interior  tribes  united  themselves  under  Caradoc, — 
or,  as  the  Romans  called  him,  Caractacus,  —  and  held  out 
bravely  for  eight  years.  The  invaders,  step  by  step,  gained 
all  that  is  covered  by  the  modern  English  counties ;  but 
Caradoc  and  his  followers  maintained  their  fastnesses  in  the 
mountains  of  Wales.  At  last,  the  stronghold  where  Caradoc 
had  placed  his  wife  and  children  was  taken,  and  the  dis- 
heartened warrior  sought  shelter  with  his  step-mother,  the 
Queen  of  the  Brigantes.  She  betrayed  him,  and  the  greatest 
of  the  Britons  was  carried  in  chains  to  Rome.  The  Silures 
still  held  out,  and  Ostorius,  the  Roman  general,  is  said  to 
have  died  of  vexation  at  his  ill  success. 

11.  Hitherto,  the  resistance  of  the  Britons  had  been  largely 
sustained  by  the  Druids,  their  priests,  who  possessed  an  ex- 
traordinary power  over  the  minds  and  conduct  of  their  vota- 
ries. They  taught  the  young,  made  and  administered  the 
laws,  and  settled  all  disputes  between  tribes  and  nations,  as 
well  as  between  private  persons.  Their  authority  was  enforced 
by  dreadful  penalties,  including  death  by  fire ;  but  they  ruled 
the  souls  of  men  even  more  absolutely,  by  assuming  a  knowl- 
edge and  control  of  each  man's  future  existence.  Their  tem- 
ples were  circles  of  enormous  stones,  open  to  the  sky,  such 
as  may  still  be  seen  at  Stonehenge  and  Abury.  The  priestly 
Druids  dwelt  in  sacred  groves  of  oak;  inferior  to  them  were 


A.  D.  61.]     DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  DRUIDS. 


n 


the  two  ranks  of  prophets  and  bards,  the  first  of  whom  com- 
posed hymns  in  honor  of  the  gods,  while  the  second  rehearsed 
the  brave  deeds  of  heroes. 

12.  The  Romans,  as  a  rule,  were  tolerant  of  all  religions, 
and  even  placed  the  gods  of  conquered  peoples  in  their  own 
Pantheon;  but  where  the  tremendous  power  of  the  priests 
was  used  to  obstruct  their  progress  toward  universal  dominion, 
their  wrath  was  unchecked  by  any  thought  of  the  sacred  rights 
of  conscience.  Suetonius,  becoming  general  of  the  Roman 
forces,  A.  D.  59,  soon  perceived  that  Britain  could  never  be 
subdued  while  the  Druids  retained  their  power.  Chief  of 
their  holy  places  was  the  island  of  Mona,  or  Anglesey,  which 
is  separated  from  the  mainland  of  Wales  by  Menai  Straits. 
At  this  stronghold  Suetonius  aimed  the  blow  which  was  to 
shatter  the  ancient  superstition,  and  here  the  Druids  mustered 
all  their  forces,  both  material  and  spiritual.  Not  only  was  a 
host  of  armed  warriors  ranged  upon  the  shore,  but  multitudes 
of  priests  and  priestesses  ran  about  tossing  their  long  hair, 
brandishing  blazing  torches,  and  rending  the  air  with  their 
shrieks  and  curses. 

13.  The  legions  pressed  forward,  undismayed  by  this  novel 
mode  of  warfare.  While  their  horsemen  forded  or  swam  the 
shallow  strait,  the  infantry  crossed  it  in  boats,  and 

'  J  A.  D.  61. 

after  a  fierce  combat  of  unexampled  obstinacy, 
the  Britons  were  put  to  flight.    The  Druids  were  burned  in 
the  fires  which  they  had  kindled  for  their  Roman  prisoners, 
the  sacred  oaks  were  cut  down,  and  the  altars  were  over- 
turned. 

14.  If  Suetonius  had  hoped  to  crush  the  Britons  by  this 
bold  stroke,  he  was  disappointed.  While  he  was  engaged  in 
the  north-west,  all  southern  Britain  was  up  in  arms3  especially 
the  eastern  tribes,  led  by  Boadicea,  queen  of  the  Iceni.  This 
high-spirited  matron  had  been  bitterly  injured  and  insulted 
by  the  Romans;  and  moved  by  a  rage  of  resentment,  she 
mustered  a  great  army,  which  she  herself  led  to  attack  the 


i4 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  81. 


colonies.  Chief  of  these  was  London,  already  a  flourishing 
commercial  town.  The  swift  march  of  Suetonius  failed  to 
rescue  it:  70,000  Romans  and  other  foreigners  were  slaugh- 
tered without  mercy,  and  the  city  became  a  heap  of  ashes. 
The  Roman  towns  now  named  Colchester  and  St.  Albans 
shared  the  same  fate.  But  the  Roman  general  exacted  a 
pitiless  revenge.  In  a  great  battle  near  London,  80,000 
Britons  were  slain,  and  the  vanquished  queen  poisoned  her- 
self, rather  than  fall  again  into  the  power  of  her  foes. 

15.  Several  other  generals  tried  their  hands  at  subduing 
the  Britons.  The  successful  one  was  Agricola,  who  estab- 
lished the  Roman  power  as  far  north  as  the  Firths  of  Forth 
A  D  and  Clyde,  and  protected  his  conquests  by  a  chain 

of  fortresses  stretching  across  the  island.  Britain 
was  divided  into  five  provinces  of  the  empire :  thirty-three 
great  cities  were  guarded  by  Roman  walls,  and  conformed 
to  the  Roman  language,  laws,  and  customs.  United  under 
one  firm  government,  the  several  tribes  ceased  from  their 
quarrelings  (§  7),  and  grew  rich  by  peaceful  industry.  Mines 
of  iron,  lead,  and  tin  were  worked,  and  agriculture  was  so 
prosperous  that  Britain  became  one  of  the  great  grain-export- 
ing countries  of  the  world.  A  network  of  magnificent  roads 
bound  together  the  remotest  corners  of  the  island.  There 
was  little  to  disturb  the  general  peace,  except  the  incursions 
of  barbarians  from  beyond  the  walls  of  Agricola. 

16.  The  Caledonians,  coveting  the  rich  harvests  and  well- 
fed  herds  of  their  southern  neighbors,  often  descended  upon 
the  plains,  burned  farm-houses  and  even  villages,  and  drove 
away  cattle.  To  restrain  their  ravages,  the  Emperor  Hadrian, 
who  visited  the  island,  A.  D.  119,  built  a  wall  of  earth  from 
Solway  Firth  to  the  Tyne.  In  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius, 
a  similar  rampart  was  extended  along  the  line  of  Agricola' s 
fortresses;  and,  finally,  the  Emperor  Severus,  after  marching 
through  the  Highlands  to  the  northern  extremity  of  the  island, 
caused  a  wall  of  solid  masonry  to  be  added  to  the  fortifica- 


A.  D.  2ii.]  ROMANS  IN  BRITAIN. 


tions  of  Hadrian.  The  cold  and  barren  wilds  of  Scotland 
seemed  not  worth  conquering,  to  natives  of  the  luxurious 
climates  of  southern  Europe.  No  one  then  foresaw  the 
splendors  of  genius  and  learning  which  were  yet  to  illuminate 
the  craggy  heights  of  the  "  northern  Athens." 

Sever  us  died  and  was  buried  at  York,  the  Roman  capital 
of  Britain.  His  son  Caracalla  made  a  truce  with  the  Cale- 
donians, and  hastened  to  be  crowned  at  Rome. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Britain  first  peopled  by  unknown  races ;  colonized  by  Celts ;  vis- 
ited by  Phoenicians  and  Greeks;  conquered  by  Romans.  Caesar  and 
his  heir  establish  the  Roman  Empire,  of  which  Britain  constitutes  five 
provinces.  Immense  power  of  the  Druids.  Suetonius  takes  their  Holy 
Island  by  storm,  and  exterminates  the  priests*.  Revolt  of  Boadicea ; 
burning  of  London  and  massacre  of  Roman  residents;  her  defeat  and 
death.  Ramparts  of  Agricola,  Hadrian,  Antoninus,  and  Severus  de- 
fend Roman  Britain  from  the  Caledonians.  Death  and  burial  of 
Severus  at  York. 


II.  THE  ENGLISH  CONQUEST. 


A  Druid  Bard. 


NEW  enemy  soon  began  to  vex 
the  eastern  coast  of  Britain,  be- 
ing no  other  than  the  Saxon, 
or  English,  freebooters,  whose 
descendants  were  to  rule  the 
greater  part  of  the  island. 
These  brave  and  active  people 
were  a  part  of  the  great  Ger- 
man race,  which  under  its  va- 
rious tribal  names  —  Goths, 
Franks,  Burgundians,  etc.  — 
was  now  becoming  supreme  in 
Europe.  Their  home  was  the 
north-westerijjoart  of  Germany,  but  their  marine  camps  already 
dotted  the  coasts  of  Holland,  Belgium,  and  northern  France. 

To  protect  the  shores  of  Britain  from  their  ravages,  the 
Emperor  Diocletian  appointed  a  special  officer,  called  the 
"Count  of  the  Saxon  Border."  But  Carausius,  the  first  who 
bore  this  title,  entered  into  alliance  with  the  pirates  them- 
selves, won  over  to  his  standard  all  the  Roman 
troops  stationed  in  Britain,  assumed  the  imperial 
title  of  "Augustus,7'  and  made  himself  ruler  of  the  island 
and  its  surrounding  seas.  Diocletian  and  Maximian  were 
forced  to  acknowledge  him  as  their  colleague;  but  after  six 
years  of  power,  he  was  defeated  by  Constantius,  the  new 
Cmsar>*  and  murdered  by  his  subordinate  officer. 


A.  D.  2S7. 


*  The  Roman  Empire  was  now  sO  great,  and  its  contests  with  bar- 
barians so  incessant,  that  each  emperor  had  to  share  his  power  with 
a  genera],  who  became  his  adopted  son  and  took  the  title  of  Caesar. 
Upon  his  patron's  death,  the  Caesar  became  emperor,  with  the  higher 
title  of  Augustus. 

(16) 


A.  D.  306.] 


PICTS  AND  SCOTS. 


17 


18.  The  last  emperor  who  resided  in  Britain  was  Constan- 
tius  Chlorus.  He  held  his  court  at  York,  and  there,  upon 
his  death,  his  son,  Constantine  the  Great,  was  hailed  as  em- 
peror by  the  legions.  In  the  long  and  eventful  reign  of  this 
remarkable  man,  the  greatest  event  is  the  establishment  of 
Christianity  as  the  religion  of  the  Empire.  Already  its  doc- 
trines had  been  diffused  in  Britain  by  soldiers  and  colonists; 
churches  had  been  planted  in  all  the  towns;  but  we  can  not 
now  measure  the  extent  of  its  influence  over  the  conquered 
people.  Although  this  simple  faith  was  soon  swept  back  by 
a  tide  of  heathen  invasion,  Christianity  still  retained  a  firm 
hold  in  Ireland  and  among  the  Welsh  in  the  west.     (§§  24, 

25>  3°-) 

ig.  Under  the  Roman  rule,  Britain  became  civilized  but 
not  strong.  Roads  and  bridges  were  built,  which  even  now 
defy  the  ruining  touch  of  Time.  Under  the  pavements  of 
London,  York,  and  Chester  lie  remains  of  cities  more  finely 
built  and  more  richly  ornamented  than  those  which  have  risen 
upon  their  ruins.  But  while  commerce  and  luxury  increased, 
the  strength  of  Britain  was  slowly  sapped.  Her  young  men 
were  drafted  into  the  armies  of  the  Empire,  and  shed  their 
life-blood  upon  the  battle-fields  of  Italy  or  of  Asia.  The  few 
who  remained  at  home  were  corrupted  by  the  pleasures, 
rather  than  ennobled  by  the  arts,  of  civilized  life.  Under 
the  perfect  order  and  peace  maintained  by  the  presence  of 
Roman  armies  and  the  prevalence  of  Roman  law,  the  Britons 
were  not  learning  either  to  defend  or  to  govern  themselves. 

20.  Early  in  the  fourth  century,  a  change  took  place  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  island,  which  could  then  first  be 
called  Scotland.  The  Scots,  a  fierce  and  savage  tribe,  crossed 
from  Ireland,  their  earlier  home,  and  settling  themselves  in 
what  is  now  Argyleshire,  soon  established  their  supremacy 
over  the  Caledonians.  The  latter  are  henceforth  to  be  known 
as  PicU)  a  name  which  probably  distinguished  them  from  the 
unpainted  Scots.    The  new-comers  paid  no  respect  to  the 


1 8 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  368. 


walls  of  Hadrian  and  Severus,  but  swarming  over  those 
feeble  barriers,  spread  their  ravages  over  all  the  fair  harvest- 
fields  of  southern  Britain.  In  A.  D.  368,  they  advanced  even 
to  London,  whence  they  were  repulsed  by  the  great  general 
Theodosius. 

21.  But  the  Empire  itself  was  now  falling  under  the  attacks 
of  northern  barbarians,  and  in  A.  D.  418,  the  Emperor 
Honorius  was  compelled  to  withdraw  the  legions  which  had 
been  stationed  for  the  defense  of  the  island.  The  Britons, 
ravaged  at  once  by  the  German  pirates  on  the  east  and  by 
the  Picts  and  Scots  on  the  north,  were  still  further  weakened 
by  dissensions  among  themselves.  The  national  party,  under 
Vortigern,  desired  a  return  to  old  Celtic  customs,  while  Am- 
brosius  and  the  Roman  party  upheld  the  law  and  order 
which  had  been  derived  from  their  late  rulers. 

The  latter  party  wrote  a  piteous  letter  to  Aetius,  the  Ro- 
man general  in  Gaul :  i '  The  barbarians  drive  us  into  the  sea ; 
the  sea  throws  us  back  upon  the  swords  of  the  barbarians; 
and  we  have  only  the  hard  choice  of  perishing  by  the  sword 
or  by  the  waves."    But  Aetius  could  afford  no 

A.  D.  451.  J 

aid;  he -was  preparing  for  battle  with  Attila,  king 
of  the  Huns,  a  monster  so  hideous,  so  fierce,  and  hitherto  so 
irresistible,  that  he  was  called,  by  the  affrighted  people  of 
that  time,  the  "  Scourge  of  God." 

22.  The  other  party  had  recourse  to  the  Germans.  These 
already  possessed  lands  on  the  coasts  of  York  and  Durham, 
but  they  were  none  the  less  glad  of  a  settlement  on  the  fruit- 
ful plains  of  Kent.  Three  ship-loads  of  men  from  Jutland, 
under  the  brother-chieftains,  Hengist  and  Horsa,  came  to  the 

help  of  Vortigern,  the  British  prince,  and  were 

A.  D.  449.  4  0 

rewarded  by  a  gift  of  the  isle  of  Thanet,  then 
separated  by  a  broad  channel  from  the  mainland.  Sixteen 
more  vessels  laden  with  Germans  followed,  and  the  Britons, 
grateful  for  a  victory  over  the  Scots,  gave  fertile  lands  to  all. 
The  new-comers  soon  began  to  conduct  themselves  rather 


A.  D.  450.] 


KING  ARTHUR. 


19 


as  conquerors  than  as  guests.  They  turned  their  victorious 
arms  against  the  Britons;  new  swarms  of  their  countrymen 
arriving  from  beyond  the  sea,  followed  their  example ;  and 
in  less  than  one  hundred  years,  seven  or  eight  German  king- 
doms, sometimes  called  the  Heptarchy,  had  been  formed 
between  the  English  Channel  and  the  Frith  of  Forth.  The 
Britons,  henceforth  to  be  called  Welsh,  or  foreigners,  retained 
only  a  strip  of  land  along  the  western  coast,  including  Corn- 
wall, Devon,  Wales,  and  Cumbria,  or  Strathclyde. 

23.  If  history  were  permitted  to  borrow  a  page  from  ro- 
mance, we  would  gladly  tell  the  story  of  King  Arthur,  the 
chief  of  the  Britons,  who,  in  this  time  of  trouble,  when 
weaker  and  baser  kings 

"Groaned  for  the  Roman  legions  here  again," 
with  his  own  right  arm 

"  Drave 

The  heathen,  and  he  slew  the  Jjeast,  and  felled 
The  forest,  and  let  in  the  sun,  and  made 
Broad  pathways  for  the  hunter  and  the  knight." 

We  would  tell,  too,  of  the  "glorious  company"  about  the 
Round  Table  and  in  the  lists  at  Camelot : 

"Knights  that  in  twelve  great  battles  splashed  and  dyed 
The  strong  White  Horse  in  his  own  heathen  blood." 

But  the  story  of  Arthur  and  his  Knights  must  be  read  in 
Tennyson's  beautiful  Idylls.  If  it  were  possible  to  recover 
the  true  history  of  the  British  chief  who  bore  the  name,  it 
would  not  greatly  alter  the  main  features  of  our  sketch. 

24.  While  Britain  was  yielding  to  the  German  conquest, 
Ireland  was  still  the  peaceful  abode  of  piety  and  learning. 
Scholars  fled  from  the  tumults  of  England  and  the  Continent, 
to  find  a  quiet  retreat  at  Armagh  or  Durrow,  and  add  to  the 
fame  of  their  universities,  then  celebrated  throughout  western 
Europe.  Irish  missionaries,  in  their  turn,  preached  the  Gos- 
pel in  the  British  Isles,  in  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  eastern 


20 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  565. 


France.  Columba,  an  Irish  refugee,  founded  the  monastery 
of  Iona;  and  Aidan,  one  of  its  monks,  established  the  still 
more  celebrated  bishopric  and  seminary  at  Lindisfarne,  which 
sent  missionaries  into  all  the  heathen  realms.  Cuthbert,  the 
Apostle  of  the  Lowlands,  from  his  mission-station  at  Melrose, 
traveled  over  bogs  and  moors  and  rough  mountain  sides, 
teaching  Christianity  to  the  pagan  peasants  of  Scotland  and 
Northumbria. 

25.  The  Britons  had  been  wholly  or  partly  Christian;  the 
English  were  heathen,  and  continued  so  for  a  hundred  years 
after  the  conquest.  Roman  law,  language,  and  religion  dis- 
appeared, and  the  worship  of  Woden,  with  the  customs  of  the 
Teutonic  tribes,  and  a  Low  Dutch  language,  took  their  place. 
Three  of  the  German  kingdoms  (§  22),  Anglia,  Mercia,  and 
Northumbria,  were  founded  by  Angles,  or  Engles,  whose 
name  was  even  then  often  applied  to  the  whole  country  and 
people ;  three,  called  respectively  East,  West,  and  South 
Saxony  (Essex,  Wessex,  and  Sussex),  were  founded  by  Sax- 
ons; Kent,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  Jutes.  Northumbria 
was  often  divided  into  two  kingdoms  of  Bernicia  and  Deira; 
part  of  Essex  became  Middlesex ;  and  East  Anglia  was  sep- 
arated into  the  two  regions  of  the  Northfolk  and  the  South- 
folk,  now  called  Norfolk  and  Suffolk. 

26.  Each  of  the  German  tribes  had  a  royal  family,  reputed 
to  be  descended  from  Woden,  their  chief  divinity,  and  from 
which  the  king  was  chosen  by  the  votes  of  all  the  freemen. 
The  custom  of  strict  hereditary  succession  was  wholly  un- 
known. No  son  of  a  king  could  claim  his  father's  crown 
until  it  had  been  duly  conferred  upon  him  by  the  votes  of 
the  nation;  and  if  he  was  young,  or  his  valor  yet  unproven, 
his  father's  brother  was  usually  preferred.  The  seven  or 
eight  kingdoms  in  England  sometimes  acknowledged  a  com- 
mon head,  known  as  the  Birtwalda,  whose  authority  in  this 
little  realm  bore  some  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Emperor  on 
the  continent  of  Europe  over  the  various  nations  owing  alle- 


Ufap  2. 


22 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  560. 


giance  to  Rome.  Mercia  and  Northumbria  for  a  time  strug- 
gled for  the  supremacy;  but  Wessex  gained  it  at  last,  and 
absorbed  or  subdued  all  the  other  kingdoms.    (§§  31,  33.) 

27.  Ethelbert,  fourth  king  of  Kent,  was  the  third  of  the 
Bretwaldas,  and  the  first  Christian  king  in  England.  He 
married  the  Frankish  princess  Bertha,  daughter  of  Caribert; 
and  his  relations  with  her  native  land  brought  many  civilizing 
influences  into  his  kingdom.  His  people  were  the  first  of 
the  English  to  enjoy  a  written  code  of  laws;  and  his  long 
reign  of  fifty  years  was  productive  of  honor  to  himself  and 
blessing  to  his  kingdom.  But  the  greatest  of  its  events  was 
the  reception  of  Christianity. 

28.  Several  years  before,  a  good  priest  visiting  the  slave 
market  at  Rome,  saw  three  English  youths  exposed  for  sale. 
Their  fair  faces  attracted  his  attention,  and  he  asked  whence 
they  came.  Being  told  that  they  wrere  Angli,  "Not  Angles, 
but  angels"  was  his  quick  reply,  adding  that  it  was  a  pity 
the  Prince  of  Darkness  should  enjoy  so  fair  a  prey.  Being 
informed,  further,  that  they  came  from  Deira,  "That  is 
good,"  he  cried;  "they  are  called  from  the  anger  (de  ira) 
of  God  to  his  mercy."  And  having  learned  that  their  king 
was  named  /Ella,  "Alleluia!"  he  exclaimed;  "we  must  en- 
deavor that  the  praises  of  God  be  sung  in  that  country." 

Pleased  with  his  puns,  the  good  man  was  not  the  less  ex- 
cited by  true  missionary  zeal,  and  he  obtained  the  Pope's 
permission  to  set  off  immediately  as  a  teacher  of  the  Gospel 
to  that  distant  island.  His  Roman  flock,  however,  refused 
to  let  him  go,  and  on  the  death  of  the  then  reigning  pontiff, 
he  was  elected  to  be  pope,  —  Gregory  I.  Not  forgetting  his 
desire  for  the  conversion  of  the  English,  he  sent  Augustine, 
a  Roman  monk,  with  forty  associates,  to  preach  the  true  faith 
to  those  pagans.    (A.  D.  596.) 

29.  Bertha,  Queen  of  Kent,  was  already  a  Christian; 
through  her  influence,  Ethelbert  received  the  embassadors 
with  honor,  and  gave  them  a  cordial  hearing.    Soon  afte? 


A.  D.  792.]       CHRISTIANITY  IN  ENGLAND. 


23 


ward,  he  and  all  his  courtiers  were  baptized.  Augustine 
became  the  first  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 

•  ,  i       •  A-  D-  597- 

was  endowed  by  Pope  Gregory  with  authority 
over  all  the  churches  yet  to  be  founded  in  England.  The 
new  faith  was  soon  accepted  by  the  East  Saxons;  a  bishop 
of  London  was  consecrated,  and  churches  were  built,  re- 
spectively, to  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  on  the  sites  still  occu- 
pied by  Westminster  Abbey  and  the  great  cathedral. 

30.  A  daughter  of  Ethelbert  and  Bertha  became  the  bride 
of  King  Edwin  of  Deira,  and  had  the  honor  of  introducing 
Christianity  into  that  northern  kingdom.  Edwin  was  bap- 
tized at  York,  and  over  the  spot  thus  consecrated  arose  a 
church  which  was  the  humble  predecessor  of  the  present 
grand  and  stately  minster.  Paulinus,  who  had  accompanied 
the  young  Queen  from  Kent,  became  the  first  archbishop  of 
York.  The  Christians  of  Wales  and  Cornwall  (§18)  refused 
to  obey  either  a  bishop  at  Rome  or  a  primate  at  Canterbury  : 
their  independent  spirit  was  punished  by  a  massacre  of  two 
hundred  of  their  priests.  Churches  and  monasteries  were 
soon  scattered  over  the  land,  and  the  fierce  superstitions  of 
northern  paganism  gave  way  to  a  purer  and  gentler  faith. 

31.  For  a  time,  Mercia  had  the  preeminence  among  the 
German  kingdoms,  and  its  king,  Offa,  even  attracted  the 
notice  and  friendship  of  Charlemagne  (§  32).  He  gained 
many  victories  over  the  Britons  in  Wales,  and  raised  a  great 
mound  of  earth,  still  known  as  OfTa's  Dike,  to  ward  off  their 
attacks  upon  the  Saxon  colonists  whom  he  settled  between 
the  Severn  and  the  Wye. 

The  glory  of  Offa  was  clouded  by  crime.  He  procured 
the  murder  of  the  East  Anglian  King,  who  was  a 

.  .  .        .  A.  D.  792. 

guest  at  his  court,  and  violently  seized  his  king- 
dom.   Like  many  other  princes  of  that  time,  he  sought  to 
relieve  his  conscience  by  lavish  gifts  to  the  Church.  One- 
tenth  of  all  his  goods  were  bestowed  upon  the  clergy ;  and 
following  the  example  of  Ina  in  Wessex,  he  imposed  a  tax 


24 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  792. 


of  a  penny  on  every  homestead  in  his  dominion,  for  the 
maintenance  of  an  English  college  at  Rome.  Such  grants 
are  more  easily  made  than  recalled,  and  we  shall  find  the 
Pope's  claim  for  "Peter's  pence"  still  enforced  nearly  a 
thousand  years  after  the  first  imposition  of  the  tax. 

32.  We  have  no  room  for  the  annals  of  all  the  German 
kingdoms  in  England.  In  the  wars  which  resulted  from 
their  perpetual  feuds  and  jealousies,  all  but  one  of  the  royal 
families  became  extinct.  The  surviving  race  was  that  of 
Cerdic,  the  founder  of  Wessex,  and  it  was  now  represented 
only  by  Rrihtric,  the  reigning  monarch,  and  Egbert,  his 
young  cousin,  who  was  held  by  many  to  have  a  better  right 
to  the  throne.  Finding  that  he  had  incurred  the  enmity 
of  Brihtric,  Egbert  withdrew  to  the  continent,  and  spent  his 
years  of  exile  and  probation  in  studying  the  arts  of  war  and 
government,  with  the  greatest  master  of  both  then  living,  — 
the  Frankish  king,  who  was  soon  to  be  known  as  Charle- 
magne, Emperor  of  the  West. 

33.  Brihtric's  wife  was  Eadburga,  daughter  of  Offa  (§31), 
a  woman  celebrated,  even  in  that  dark  age,  for  her  crimes 
and  misfortunes.  She  had  resolved  to  poison  a  nobleman 
who  was  her  husband's  friend :  the  poison  was  accidentally 
taken  by  the  King.  Eadburga  fled  in  a  passion  of  shame 
and  remorse,  and  Egbert  was  called  to  the  throne  by  the 
acclamations  of  all  the  people.  He  now  put  in  practice  the 
lessons  he  had  learned  in  the  court  and  camp  of  Charle- 
magne, devoting  himself  to  the  energetic  government  of  his 
own  dominions,  and  the  conquest  of  the  Britons  of  Cornwall 
and  Wales. 

•Nearly  twenty-five  years  had  thus  been  spent,  when  an  in- 
vasion of  Wessex,  by  the  King  of  Mercia,  led  to  a  series  of 
wars  which  made  Egbert  over-lord  of  nearly  all  the  island. 
Kent,  Sussex,  and  East  Anglia,  unwilling  tributaries  of  Mercia, 
gladly  transferred  their  obedience  to  the  wisest  and  best  of 
Englishmen ;  Northumbria  followed  their  example ;  Mercia 


A.  D.  827.] 


EGBERTS  SUPREMACY. 


25 


was  conquered,  and  so  the  Heptarchy  (§§22,  25)  ended  in  a 
monarchy,  within  four  centuries  of  the  first  German  invasion. 
Egbert's  immediate  dominion  still  ended,  how- 

3  A.  D.  827. 

ever,  at  the  Thames,  and  he  commonly  styled 
himself,  as  before,  ' '  King  of  the  West  Sax'ons."    His  great- 
grandson,  Edward  the  Elder,  was  the  first  to  assume  the  title, 
«  King  of  the  English."  (§47.) 

RECAPITULATION. 

Western  Europe  is  ravaged  by  German  pirates.  Under  Constan- 
tine,  the  Roman  Empire  becomes  Christian.  Britain  is  weakened, 
though  civilized,  by  the  Roman  occupation.  "  Scots"  from  Ireland 
conquer  the  northern  and  ravage  the  southern  part  of  the  island.  The 
legions  being  withdrawn,  a  Roman  party  appeal  to  Aetius,  a  national 
party,  to  the  Germans,  for  aid  against  the  Scots.  Saxons,  Angles, 
and  Jutes  conquer  the  island  and  establish  seven  kingdoms,  the 
Britons  being  crowded  into  a  narrow  western  region.  Arthur  and 
his  knights  resist  the  heathen  invaders,  but  ultimately  without  success. 

Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  welcomes  Christian  missionaries  from 
Rome.  Churches  built  at  Canterbury,  London,  and  York.  Kings 
Offa  and  Ina  impose  the  payment  of  "  Peter's  pence"  on  Mercia  and 
Wessex.  Egbert  studies  war  and  government  with  Charlemagne,  be- 
comes King  of  Wessex,  and  over-lord  of  all  England. 


III.  THE  DANISH  INCURSIONS. 


Mim i^HMfe^O  sooner  were  the  seven  Ger- 
man kingdoms  thus  happily 
united,  than  they  were  ex- 
posed to  a  new  danger.  The 
barren  peninsulas  which  guard 
the  entrance  to  the  Baltic  Sea 
were  inhabited  by  a  fierce  and 
hardy  race,  still  pagan,  who 
were  far  too  adventurous  to 
remain  content  in  so  poor 
and  narrow  a  home.  The 
wild  and  stormy  sea  was  to 
them  more  attractive  than  the 
land,  while  beyond  it  lay  fer- 
tile countries  and  cities  stored  with  wealth.  Like  the  Saxon 
pirates  of  four  centuries  before,  these  ' '  Danes/'  or  North- 
men, with  their  narrow  ships  penetrated  all  the  inlets  and 
rivers  of  Holland,  France,  and  Spain ;  and,  like  the  Saxons, 
they  found  the  broad  estuaries  of  Britain  especially  attractive. 
In  all  the  maritime  regions  of  western  Europe,  the  churches 
resounded  daily  with  one  doleful  addition  to  the  Litany : 
"  From  the  fury  of  the  Northmen,  good  Lord,  deliver  us!7' 

35.  Wherever  the  standard  of  the  Black  Raven  appeared, 
the  people  fled  in  dismay.  The  progress  of  the  marauders 
was  marked  by  the  smoke  of  burning  villages.  Neither  rich 
nor  poor  were  spared ;  but  the  churches  were  the  chief  objects 
of  violence,  because  in  their  vaults  were  usually  found  gold, 
silver,  and  other  treasures.  At  first  the  Danes  contented 
themselves  with  sudden  raids  upon  the  coast,  retiring  to  their 
ships  with  their  booty  before  they  could  be  pursued;  but,  at 
length,  they  began  to  settle  themselves  in  permanent  stations, 
(26) 


Alfred  and  the  Cakes. 


A.  D.  870.]  CHILDHOOD  OF  ALFRED. 


27 


whence  they  could  carry  on  regular  operations  over  a  wide 
extent  of  country. 

36.  When  the  strong  hand  of  Egbert  was  most  needed  to 
restrain  their  ravages,  he  died,  and  his  son  Ethelwolf,  a  weak 
and  inefficient  prince,  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  He  began 
by  bestowing  the  three  south-eastern  provinces,  Essex,  Kent, 
and  Sussex,  upon  his  eldest  son,  Athelstan,  and  soon  after- 
ward departed,  with  his  youngest  and  favorite  son,  Alfred, 
on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome.  Regardless  of  the  miseries  of  his 
people,  he  spent  a  year  in  prayers  and  offerings  at  the  various 
holy  places.  Meanwhile,  Athelstan  died,  and  his  brother 
Ethelbald  joined  a  party  among  the  nobles  who  wished  to 
exclude  his  father  from  the  throne.  Civil  war  might  have 
been  added  to  all  the  other  horrors  of  the  time,  had  not 
Ethelwolf  consented  to  a  division  of  the  kingdom,  yielding 
the  western  and  more  peaceful  portion  to  his  son. 

37.  In  his  return  through  France,  Ethelwolf  married  the 
princess  Judith,  daughter  of  Charles  the  Bald.  She  is  of  im- 
portance to  our  history  only  by  reason  of  her  influence  over 
her  little  step-son  Alfred,  whose  bright  young  mind  she  stim- 
ulated by  the  reading  of  some  old  English  poems,  from  a 
costly  book  which  she  numbered  among  her  treasures.  En- 
couraged by  the  offered  gift  of  the  book,  the  prince  learned 
to  read,  —  an  accomplishment  by  no  means  easy,  when  neither 
primers  nor  teachers  could  be  had.  Alfred's  perseverance 
procured  immeasurable  benefits  not  only  to  himself,  but  to 
his  race. 

38.  On  the  death  of  Ethelwolf,  his  third  son,  Ethelbert, 
was  promoted  to  a  share  in  the  kingdom ;  and  upon  the 
latter  prince's  death,  eight  years  later,  a  still  younger  brother, 
Ethelred,  succeeded  to  his  place.  The  Danes  continued  their 
ravages  with  ever-iricreasing  assurance.    In  one 

of  their  raids  they  captured  Edmund,  the  tribu- 
tary king  of  East  Anglia,  to  whom  they  offered  the  alternative 
of  death  or  apostasy.    If  he  would  become  a  pagan,  he 


28 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  87: 


might  continue  to  hold  his  kingdom,  subject  to  their  suprem- 
acy. Scorning  this  insulting  proposition,  Edmund  was  bound 
to  a  tree  and  made  a  target  for  their  arrows,  until,  wearying 
of  their  brutal  sport,  they  at  last  beheaded  him.  He  was 
honored  as  a  saint  and  martyr,  and  the  place  still  bears  his 
name, —  Bury  St.  Edmunds. 

39.  Ethelred  met  his  death  in  battle  with  the  Danes,  and 
Alfred  was  called  from  his  favorite  studies  to  the  toils  and 
heavy  responsibilities  of  a  king.  For  seven  years  he  warred 
bravely,  and  often  successfully,  against  the  heathen  invaders, 
who  possessed  the  whole  country  north  of  the  Thames ;  but, 
their  numbers  ever  increasing,  he  was  compelled,  at  length, 
to  hide  himself,  and  leave  his  kingdom  to  their  ravages.  On 
one  occasion,  we  are  told,  he  was  sheltered  by  one  of  his 
herdsmen,  whose  wife  was  ignorant  of  her  guest's  true  rank. 
Being  called  away,  the  good  woman  one  day  charged  him 
with  the  care  of  some  cakes  which  were  left  baking  over  the 
fire.  Alfred,  absorbed  in  heavier  cares,  neglected  his  trust, 
and  was  punished  by  a  violent  scolding. 

40.  The  Danes  grew  careless  as  they  met  with  no  opposi- 
tion, and  Alfred  found  means  of  collecting  some  of  his  follow- 
ers, with  whom  he  fortified  himself  on  an  island  of  firm  ground 
in  the  midst  of  a  bog  in  Somersetshire.  Encircled  by  marshes 
and  forests,  he  was  still  hidden  from  the  invaders,  who  were 
often  surprised  by  a  night  attack  from  some  unknown  foe. 
Thus  the  spirits  of  the  English  revived,  and  the  little  island 
court  was  well  maintained  by  forage. 

41.  Before  calling  a  general  muster  of  his  people,  Alfred 
resolved  to  see  for  himself  the  numbers  and  position  of  the 
enemy.  Availing  himself  of  a  gift  which  he  had  cultivated 
with  great  delight  in  times  of  peace,  the  King  disguised  himself 
as  a  harper,  and  boldly  entered  the  Danish  camp  near  Ethan- 
dune.  His  songs  and  jokes  proved  so  acceptable  to  the  sol- 
diers, that  he  was  introduced  to  the  tent  of  Guthrum,  their 
chief,  and  royally  entertained  for  several  days.    Here  he  had 


A.  D.  886.]  THE  DANISH  INCURSIONS. 


29 


every  opportunity  to  learn  the  character  and  intentions  of  the 
Danes.  He  found  them  lazy  and  negligent,  despising  the 
English  and  fearing  no  attack. 

42.  The  moment  was  favorable.  Swiftly  and  secretly  mus- 
tering his  forces,  Alfred  fell  upon  the  Danish  encampment. 
Surprise  aided  the  English  arms,  and  the  rout  was  complete. 
Guthrum  fled,  and  with  his  surviving  warriors  took  refuge  in 
a  fortified  camp ;  but  hunger  soon  compelled  him  to  surrender 
on  Alfred's  own  terms.    These  were  dictated  by 

J         A.  D.  878. 

a  policy  nobler  than  revenge.  The  north-eastern 
coasts  of  England  were  already  depopulated  by  the  ravages 
of  the  Danes.  Alfred  resolved  to  turn  his  late  enemies  into 
friends,  by  granting  them  large  tracts  of  land  in  permanent 
possession,  on  the  condition,  however,  of  their  ceasing  from 
their  ravages,  and  exchanging  their  fierce  worship  of  Woden 
for  the  Christian  faith, 

43.  Softened,  perhaps,  by  terms  so  much  more  generous 
than  he  had  a  right  to  expect,  Guthrum  accepted  the  proposal 
and  received  baptism,  with  the  Christian  name  of  Athelstan. 
Danish  and  Saxon  England  were  separated  by  the  Roman 
military  road,  called  Wailing  Street,  which  ran  from  London 
to  Chester.  Absorbed  in  their  new  possessions,  the  Anglo- 
Danes  did  not  often  molest  the  kingdom  of  Alfred ;  though 
the  fresh  swarms  of  their  pagan  countrymen,  continually  ar- 
riving from  beyond  the  sea,  threatened  to  crowd  out  the 
earlier  possessors  of  the  island. 

44.  The  years  of  comparative  peace  which  followed  were 
employed  by  Alfred  in  civilizing  and  protecting  his  kingdom. 
London  and  several  other  cities  which  had  been  burnt  by  the 
Danes,  were  now  rebuilt.  The  coast  was  guarded  by  a  pow- 
erful fleet,  while  a  regular  militia  was  trained  to  defend  the 
land.  Nor  did  the  good  King  neglect  the  education  of  his 
people.  He  found  them  ignorant  and  rude.  Nearly  all  the 
monasteries,  with  their  libraries,  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Danes,  and  the  terror  of  their  ravages  had  broken  up  all  the 


3° 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  886. 


customs  of  peaceful  and  orderly  life.  Alfred  first  restored 
peace  and  security;  then  he  founded  schools,  and  required 
every  owner  of  two  hides  of  land  to  send  his  children  thither 
for  instruction.  He  invited  learned  men  and  skillful  artisans 
from  the  Continent :  he  employed  the  former  in  translating 
Greek  and  Latin  books  into  the  English  of  his  time,  and  the 
latter  in  enriching  the  kingdom  by  useful  arts  and  manu- 
factures. 

45.  Alfred  himself,  by  the  most  careful  economy  of  time, 
found  leisure  from  his  great  cares  to  write  or  translate  several 
books,  which  he  thought  best  fitted  to  be  useful  to  his  people. 
Among  these  were  a  History  of  the  World,  by  Orosius,  and 
the  "Consolations  of  Philosophy,"  by  Boethius,  beside  some 
invaluable  versions  of  the  Psalms  and  other  portions  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  He  made  a  new  collection  of  the  laws  of 
Ethelbert  (§  27),  Offa,  and  Ina,  to  which  he  added  some 
enactments  of  his  own. 

He  revived  the  old  German  division  into  tithings,  hundreds, 
and  shires,  for  the  sake  of  a  more  exact  enforcement  of  justice. 
The  first  consisted  of  ten  families ;  the  second,  of  a  hundred. 
All  the  members  were  held  responsible  for  a  crime  committed 
within  their  number,  and  were  bound  to  produce  the  offender 
before  the  proper  court.  An  innocent  man  could  always  clear 
himself  by  bringing  ten  of  his  neighbors,  members  of  the  same 
hundred,  who  would  bear  witness  under  oath  to  his  integrity 
of  character,  or  to  his  absence  from  the  place  where  the  crime 
was  alleged  to  have  been  committed.  This  is  probably  the 
origin  of  our  later  and  universal  custom  of  trial  by  jury. 

46.  The  last  eight  years  of  Alfred's  reign  were  disturbed  by 
fresh  incursions  of  the  Northmen  under  Hasting,  one  of  the 
fiercest  of  their  leaders.  Driven  from  France  by  a  famine, 
these  barbarians  landed  on  the  Kentish  coast,  and  spread  their 
ravages  over  the  country.  Alfred  met  them  with  his  accus- 
tomed energy,  and  by  a  severe  contest  of  several  years,  at 
length  restored  peace  to  his  kingdom. 


A.  D.  925.] 


BRITAIN  UNITED. 


31 


This  great  king  died  in  A.  D.  901,  in  the  fifty-second  year 
of  his  age.  His  reign  of  thirty  years  had  been  devoted,  with 
the  most  intense  diligence,  to  promoting  the  best  interests  of 
his  people.  He  had  fought  fifty-six  battles  by  land  and  sea, 
and  had  excelled  most  sovereigns  in  his  labors  as  lawgiver  and 
judge.  Yet  he  had  found  time  to  acquire  more  learning,  and 
even  to  write  more  books,  than  most  men  of  uninterrupted 
leisure.  His  moral  greatness  was  first  proved  in  conquests 
over  himself,  in  tempering  justice  with  gentleness;  and  history 
records  no  merely  human  character  more  near  perfection  than 
that  of  Alfred  the  Great. 

47.  His  eldest  son,  Edmund,  was  already  dead;  his  second, 
Ethelward,  preferred  a  private  and  studious  life ;  the  choice 
of  the  6 '  wise  men''  fell,  therefore,  on  Edward,  the  third  son, 
who  became  king  in  his  father's  place.  His  cousin,  Ethel- 
wolf,  attempted  to  seize  the  crown.  Being  defeated,  he  joined 
the  Danes,  and  invited  fresh  hordes  from  beyond  the  sea  to 
attack  his  native  land.  Edward  was  aided  in  his  defense  by 
the  quick  wit  and  high  spirit  of  his  sister  Ethelrleda,  the  Lady 
of  Mercia ;  and  the  fame  of  his  success  gained  him  the  volun- 
tary homage  of  the  princes  of  Wales,  Northumbria,  a 
Strathclyde,  and  Scotland.    These  had  suffered  no 

less  than  England  from  the  ravages  of  the  Danes,  and  were 
glad  to  place  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  victorious 
king.  Edward's  own  kingdom  reached  to  the  H umber,  while 
his  "  over-lordship "  embraced  the  whole  of  Britain  and  the 
Western  Isles.    (See  §  33.) 

48.  Let  us  try  to  gain  a  clear  idea  of  the  constitution  of  this 
Saxon  kingdom.  The  crown,  as  we  have  seen  (§  26),  was 
elective,  though  the  choice  was  usually  restricted  to  one  fam- 
ily. Before  the  German  tribes  had  settled  into  highly  organ- 
ized nations,  every  freeman  was  entitled  to  appear  in  arms  at 
the  council  of  his  chief ;  and  the  affairs  of  the  whole  people 
were  transacted  at  the  March  or  May  fields,  under  the  open 
heaven.   These  martial  assemblies  gave  way,  on  the  Continent, 


A.  D.  925.]  MEETINGS  OF  THE  WISE. 


33 


to  diets  in  which  the  clergy  had  a  part,  and  in  England,  to 
assemblies  of  the  witan,  or  "wise  men."  In  strict  law,  every 
freeman  had  still  a  right  to  be  present,  but  the  difficulties  of 
travel  and  communication  rendered  this  impossible,  and  the 
assembly  came  to  consist  chiefly  of  bishops,  abbots,  and 
ealdormen. 

49.  The  witenagemote,  or  "  Meeting  of  the  Wise,"  was  there- 
fore convened  alternately  at  different  places, — usually  at  Win- 
chester, the  West  Saxon  capital,  for  the  southern  shires;  at 
Gloucester,  for  the  western ;  at  London,  for  the  eastern,  and 
at  York,  for  the  northern,  after  the  Danelagh  ceased  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  rest  of  England.  At  the  three  former 
cities  the  King  "  wore  his  crown,"  in  turn,  on  the  three  great 
festivals  of  the  Christian  year;  and  thither  all  people  who 
had  petitions  to  make,  or  wrongs  to  be  righted,  might  bring 
their  suit.  Nothing  of  importance  was  done  without  the 
advice  of  the  "wise  men."  With  their  concurrence,  Alfred 
and  his  successors  required  each  maritime  town  to  provide 
and  maintain  a  ship  for  the  defense  of  the  coast;  and  it  was 
early  understood  that  no  tax  must  be  laid  upon  the  people 
but  with  their  consent. 

50.  The  people  of  England  consisted  of  three  ranks  :  Earls, 
Churls,  and  Serfs.  The  second  included  the  great  mass  of 
freemen ;  the  last  were  mostly  descendants  of  the  conquered 
Britons.  An  Englishman  could  become  a  serf  only  by  crime 
or  voluntary  sale.  Parents  sometimes  sold  their  children ;  and 
a  person  more  than  thirteen  years  of  age  might  sell  himself. 
The  Church  was  the  constant  foe  to  serfage ;  and  several  good 
bishops  set  the  example  of  emancipating  the  serfs  whom  they 
found  upon  the  lands  attached  to  their  sees.  Between  earls 
and  churls,  gradually  grew  up  the  rank  of  Thanes,  who  were 
ennobled  by  services  rendered  to  the  king  or  the  state.  But, 
originally,  all  high  orifices  were  reserved  for  men  of  noble 
blood :  the  ealdormen,  or  chief  rulers  of  cities  and  villages, 
were  chosen  from  among  the  earls;  and  every  churl  was 


34 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  925. 


required  to  choose  some  earl  as  his  lord  and  protector.  The 
"lordless  man"  was  an  outlaw;  for,  under  the  ravages  of  the 
Danes,  he  was  sure  to  be  unable  to  provide  for  the  defense 
of  himself  or  his  family. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Scandinavian  pirates  vex  the  coasts  of  all  the  British  islands;  hum 
and  plunder  churches,  monasteries,  and  villages.  Ethelwolf 's  pilgrim- 
age to  Rome;  his  marriage  with  Judith.  Alfred's  accession,  after  the 
death  of  his  four  brothers  ;  his  wars  with  the  Danes  ;  his  concealment, 
lie  reconnoiters  the  Danish  camp  in  disguise  ;  surprises  and  defeats 
the  Northmen  ;  cedes  to  them  the  eastern  shires  north  of  the  Thames, 
on  condition  of  their  ceasing  from  piracy  and  becoming  Christians. 
Protects  his  kingdom  by  ships  and  forts;  improves  it  by  schools,  li t - 
erature,  and  good  laws. 

Edward  unites  the  whole  island  under  his  sway.  "  Meetings  of 
the  Wise "  take  place  of  armed  assemblies  of  old  German  tribes. 
Taxes  levied  only  with  their  concurrence.  Population  consists  of 
earls,  churls,  and  serfs. 


IV.  FALL  OF  THE  SAXONS. 


DWARD'S  son,  Athelstan, 
^  (A.  D.  925-940,)  was  one 
I  of  the  greatest  Saxon  kings, 
I  and  England  in  his  time  was 
I  renowned  in  Europe  for  her 
I  wealth  and  splendor.  Five 
I  of  his  sisters  were  married 
I  to  sovereigns  or  great  lords 
I  on  the  Continent :  one  was 
I  Queen  of  France ;  another 
I  was  wife  of  Hugh  the  Great, 
the  "king-maker"  of  his 
age  and  nation ;  and  Editha, 


Danish  Ship. 


highest  of  all  in  rank,  was  consort  of  Otho,  King  of  the 
Germans,  and  afterward  emperor.  From  these  alliances  grew 
much  commerce  *  and  frequent  intercourse  between  England 
and  the  Continent.  Several  foreign  princes  were  intrusted  to 
Athelstan's  care  and  instruction.  Nearest  to  him  was  his 
royal  nephew,  afterward  King  Louis  IV.,  of  France,  who 
learned  from  his  uncle  to  act  with  spirit  and  efficiency  amid 
the  troubles  which  attended  the  decline  of  his  race. 

52.  Athelstan  added  Northumbria  to  his  own  immediate 
dominion,  and  thus  became  sole  king  of  all  the  Germans  in 
Britain,  as  well  as  over-lord  of  all  the  Celtic  principalities. 
But  his  turbulent  vassals  needed  strong  and  vigilant  govern- 
ing. The  North  Welsh  and  the  Scots  aided  each  other  in  a 
revolt ;  and  when  this  was  put  down,  it  was  soon  followed  by 
a  grand  conspiracy  of  Scots,  Welsh,  and  Irish,  with  Danes 

*  Among  other  laws  for  the  encouragement  of  commerce, .  Athel- 
stan ordered  that  any  merchant  who  had  made  three  long  voyages 
on  his  own  account,  should  be  admitted  to  the  rank  of  thane  (#  50). 


(35) 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  937. 


from  beyond  the  sea.  The  King  defeated  and  routed  them 
in  the  great  battle  of  Brunanburgh,  which  was  sung  by  Eng- 
lish minstrels  as  the  most  glorious  of  victories. 

53.  Edmund  I.  succeeded  his  brother  Athelstan,  A.  D. 
940.  He  subdued  the  Celtic  kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  and 
bestowed  it  upon  Malcolm,  King  of  Scotland,  on  condition 
of  homage  and  the  defense  of  the  northern  coast  against  the 
Danes.  Edmund  met  an  untimely  death  from  the  dagger  of 
a  robber,  and  his  sons  being  too  young  to  succeed  him,  his 
brother  Edred  was  chosen  king  by  the  witan.    Edred  had  to 

keep  a  firm  hand  upon  the  Northumbrian  Danes, 

A.  D.  946-955.  1  1  ' 

who  were  always  turbulent  and  unruly.  With  the 
aid  of  his  great  minister,  Dunstan,  he  reduced  them  after  a 
time  to  good  behavior. 

54.  Dunstan  was  the  most  remarkable  man  of  his  time. 
Born  of  noble  parents,  and  endowed  with  extraordinary 
talents,  he  was  early  famous  for  his  learning  and  accomplish- 
ments. He  could  paint  and  engrave ;  he  copied  and  illu- 
minated books  with  the  most  exquisite  designs;  he  wrought 
curious  patterns  in  gold  and  silver ;  and,  above  all,  he  won 
the  love  of  King  Athelstan  by  the  songs  he  composed  and 
sang  to  the  music  of  his  harp. 

55.  In  those  days  and  long  afterward,  it  was  dangerous  to 
know  too  much.  Dunstan's  rivals  at  court  accused  him  of 
magical  arts,  and  procured  his  banishment  and  disgrace. 
His  ambition  was  not  crushed,  but  only  turned  into  a  new 
channel.  He  dug  a  cell  no  larger  than  a  grave,  where  he 
shut  himself  up  for  months,  and  by  fasting  and  self-torture 
gained  a  reputation  for  extraordinary  holiness.  He  was  said 
to  be  visited  by  angels,  and  to  gain  victories  over  the  Prince 
of  Darkness.  Such  spiritual  gifts  could  not  be  suffered  to 
rest  in  obscurity.  The  monk  Dunstan  was  made  Abbot  of 
Glastonbury,  and  King  Edred  exalted  him  to  be  his  most 
trusted  counselor. 


A.  D.  958.] 


37 


56.  Edwy,  son  of  Edmund  (§  53),  succeeded  his  uncle  at 
the  age  of  sixteen.  His  short,  unhappy  reign  was  the  begin- 
ning in  England  of  that  fierce  conflict  between 

the  Church  and  the  royal  power,  which  raged  9^  95  ' 

for  centuries  throughout  Europe.  Edwy  loved  an  English 
lady  of  royal  descent,  and,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  best 
counselors,  married  her  even  before  his  coronation.  On  the 
day  of  that  ceremony,  when  the  nobles  were  feasting  in  the 
great  hall  of  the  palace,  the  King  withdrew  from  the  scene  of 
drunken  riot  to  the  more  agreeable  society  of  the  Queen  and 
her  mother.  Dunstan  had  been  foremost  in  his  opposition  to 
the  marriage :  he  rudely  followed  the  King,  and  pushed  him 
back  by  main  force  into  the  company  he  had  quitted. 

57.  Edvvy's  wrath  drove  Dunstan  out  of  the  country;  but 
Odo,  the  primate,  took  up  the  quarrel  with  zeal.  He  stirred 
up  a  revolt  among  the  Northumbrian  Danes,  who  proclaimed 
Edgar,  the  King's  younger  brother,  as  their  sovereign.  The 
church  party  gained  the  ascendency :  Archbishop  Odo,  with 
a  party  of  soldiers,  forced  the  palace  and  branded  the  beau- 
tiful face  of  the  Queen  with  a  red-hot  iron,  then  carried  her 
away  as  a  prisoner  into  Ireland.  Edwy,  overpowered,  con- 
sented to  a  divorce.  Poor  Elgiva  found  means  of  returning 
from  her  banishment,  but  only  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Odo's 
party,  who  put  her  to  a  cruel  death.  Her  unhappy  husband 
died  soon  afterward,  and  there  was  now  no  opposition  to 
Edgar's  accession  (A.  D.  958)  or  to  Dunstairs  return. 

58.  Edgar  was  a  grateful  and  obedient  ally  of  the  party 
which  had  raised  him  to  the  throne ;  and  as  the  monks  were 
the  only  historians  of  the  time,  we  shall  not  wonder  to  find 
him  represented  as  one  of  the  greatest,  wisest,  and  best  of 
monarchs.  He  was  in  truth  able  and  efficient ;  and  the  pow- 
erful fleet  which  he  maintained  checked  all  hostile  movements 
of  the  Danes,  either  within  his  own  borders  or  beyond  the 
seas.  By  Dunstan's  advice,  he  divided  Northumbria  into 
three  great  earldoms.    Deira  (§  25),  south  of  the  Tees,  be- 


3* 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  958. 


came  the  modern  Yorkshire ;  the  central  portion,  between 
the  Tees  and  the  Tweed,  kept  the  ancient  name  of  the  whole ; 
and  the  country  north  of  the  Tweed,  now  called  Lothian,  was 
bestowed  as  an  English  fief  upon  the  King  of  Scots.  It  be- 
came the  favorite  residence  of  the  Scottish  kings,  who  fixed 
their  capital  at  Edinburgh,  or  Edwin' s  borough,  so  called  from 
the  first  Christian  king  of  Northumbria  (§  30). 

59.  The  forbearance  of  the  foreign  Danes  may  have  been 
due  to  their  obtaining  extensive  territories  in  the  north-west 
of  France,  which  for  a  time  afforded  room  for  all  the  new- 
comers from  the  northern  shores.  The  duchy  of  Normandy 
was  to  have  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  England. 
Edgar  gained  many  victories  over  the  tributary,  but  not 
always  obedient,  princes  of  Ireland,  Scotland,  Wales,  the 
Orkneys,  and  the  Isle  of  Man.  On  one  occasion,  when  he 
was  making  his  yearly  inspection  of  all  the  English  coasts, 
his  barge  was  rowed  up  the  River  Dee  by  eight  vassal  kings. 

60.  Among  Edgar's  first  acts  was  the  elevation  of  Dunstan 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  The  primate  found  ex- 
ercise for  his  great  talents  and  indomitable  will,  in  reforming 
the  English  convents  after  the  strict  rule  of  the  Benedictines. 
This  order  had  arisen  in  Italy  nearly  four  hundred  years  be- 
fore, and  had  already  done  good  service  to  the  world  by 
copying  and  preserving  the  greatest  treasures  of  ancient  lit- 
erature. Doubtless,  too,  the  quiet  retreat  within  convent 
walls  afforded  to  many  weak  souls  the  only  opportunity  for 
a  holy  life,  amid  the  corruptions  and  tumults  of  those  dark 
ages. 

We  only  blame  the  monks  when  they  presumed  to  judge 
the  duty  of  others  by  their  own,  and  to  throw  contempt  and 
insult  on  relations  which  God  had  ordained.  Up  to  this 
time,  the  parish  priests  in  England  were  permitted,  though 
certainly  not  encouraged,  to  marry.  On  this  account  the 
monks,  or  regular  clergy,  held  them  in  disdain,  and  obtained 
from  Edgar  several  laws  which  placed  them  at  an  unjust  dis- 


A.  D.  iooo.]  DANES  AND  NORMANS. 


39 


advantage.  The  people  and  country  thanes  stood  by  their 
pastors;  but  Dunstan  succeeded  in  driving  out  a  multitude 
of  the  married  priests,  and  replacing  them  by  his  monks. 

61.  Edgar  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Edward  the 
Martyr,  a  boy  of  thirteen  years.    But  the  enmity 

of  his  step-mother,  Elfrida,  a  bold,  ambitious 
woman,  who  desired  to  place  her  own  son  upon  the  throne, 
pursued  him  during  his  short  and  troubled  reign  of  three 
years,  and  brought  him  at  last  to  a  violent  death.    Her  son 
Ethelred  was  then  crowned ;  but  his  reign  of 

'  °  A.  D.  978-1016. 

thirty-eight  years  brought  little  except  trouble  to 
himself  or  his  people.  The  Danish  inroads  recommenced 
with  terrible  fury,  and  the  King's  surname,  ''the  Unready," 
only  too  well  expresses  his  weak  and  inefficient  policy  in 
dealing  with  them.  By  buying  their  retreat  with  16,000 
pounds  of  silver,  he  only  insured  their  return  in  greater  force, 
with  a  demand  for  24,000,  while  he  fixed  upon  his  people, 
for  the  first  time,  an  odious  tax  called  the  Dane-geld. 

62.  In  A.  D.  993,  the  kings  of  Denmark  and  Norway 
sailed  up  the  Humber,  and  spread  their  ravages  far  and  wide 
over  the  country.  The  next  year,  they  entered  the  Thames 
with  ninety-four  vessels  and  besieged  London.  But  the  mer- 
chants and  mechanics  were  braver  than  king  or  nobles,  and 
the  besiegers  were  at  length  forced  to  withdraw.  A  full 
third  part  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  with  all  the  smaller 
islands  belonging  to  them,  were  now  in  the  grasp  of  the 
"  Raven";  and  Ethelred's  most  trusted  favorites  sold  the 
country  to  his  enemies,  almost  under  his  eyes. 

63.  Ethelred  was  never  ready  for  action,  except  at  the 
wrong  time.  He  wasted  the  force  of  his  kingdom  in  rav- 
aging Cumberland,  because  King  Malcolm  would  not  help 
him  to  buy  off  the  Danes;  and  he  made  a  rash  and  unpre- 
pared invasion  of  Normandy,  to  punish  its  people  for  having 
harbored  and  encouraged  the  northern  pirates.  It  was  true 
that  the  plunder  of  England  was  regularly  exchanged,  on  the 


4Q 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  iooo. 


wharves  of  Rouen,  for  the  wines  of  France.  But  Ethelred' s 
expedition  failed;  for  the  peasantry  of  the  Norman  coast, 
arming  themselves  ' 'with  hook  and  with  crook,  with  fork 
and  with  spike,  with  club  and  with  flail,"  made  so  valiant  a 
resistance,  that  the  English  were  glad  to  find  refuge  in  their 
ships. 

64.  The  settlement  in  north-western  France,  made  under 
the  grant  of  Charles  the  Simple  to  Rolf  the  Dane  (§  59), 
had  grown  into  the  rich  and  well-governed  duchy  of  Nor- 
mandy. The  sea-robbers  dropped  their  piratical  habits,  to- 
gether with  their  old  Norse  language  and  the  worship  of 
Woden  and  Thor,  and  speedily  surpassed  their  French  neigh- 
bors in  industry,  intelligence,  and  the  maintenance  of  public 
order.  Golden  bracelets  are  said  to  have  been  suspended 
for  years,  by  the  Duke's  order,  upon  a  tree  near  Rouen,  no 
robber  presuming  to  touch  them.  But  in  its  most  flourishing 
state  of  Christian  civilization,  Normandy  always  contained  a 
strong  pagan  party,  which  kept  up  intimate  relations  with  its 
kinsmen  beyond  the  sea,  and  could  call  a  swarm  of  "sea- 
dragons"  into  French  harbors  whenever  the  Duke  had  a 
quarrel  with  the  King  or  with  his  Flemish  neighbors. 

Peace  being  made,  King  Ethelred  sought  to  conciliate 
both  classes  of  Danes  by  marrying  Emma,  sister  of  Duke 
Richard  II.    But  the  very  next  year,  with  a  cruelty  no  less 
idiotic  than  wicked,  he  ordered  a  massacre  of  all 

A.  D.  1002. 

the  Danes  who  had  remained  in  England  from 
the  recent  invasions.  A  sister  of  Sweyn,  the  King  of  Den- 
mark, was  among  the  victims,  after  seeing  the  murder  of  her 
husband  and  children ;  and  in  the  agony  of  her  despair  she 
declared  that  her  sufferings  would  be  avenged  by  the  ruin 
of  the  English  king  and  people. 

65.  Her  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  The  Danes  soon  ap- 
peared in  irresistible  force  upon  the  western  coasts,  and  for 
ten  years  Sweyn,  rather  than  Ethelred,  held  sovereign  power 
in  England.    Upon  the  death  of  the  Dane,  his  son  Knut 


A.  D.  1016.] 


DANISH  CONQUEST. 


4* 


disputed  die  possession  of  die  crown  with  Edmund  Iron- 
sides, Ethelred's  eldest  son.  The  unready  King  died  before 
the  contest  was  decided,  and  his  braver  son  was  compelled 
to  divide  the  kingdom  with  his  Danish  rival.  But  Edric, 
Duke  of  Mercia,  one  of  Ethelred's  most  treacherous  favorites, 
procured  the  murder  of  the  Saxon  prince,  and  Knut  the 
Dane  became  king  of  all  England. 


RECAPITULATION. 

Greatness  of  England  under  Alhelstan.  His  foreign  alliances  and 
commerce  with  the  Continent.  Edmund  bestows  Srrathclyde  upon 
King  of  Scotland.  Edred  subdues  Northumbrian  Danes.  Talents 
and  rising  power  of  Dunstan.  His  contention  with  Edwy  begins  the 
rivalry  of  Church  and  State  in  England. 

Edgar's  obedience  to  the  Church  ;  he  bestows  Lothian  upon  Scot- 
tish king  ;  his  supremacy  over  neighboring  princes.  Dunstan  reforms 
the  monasteries  and  persecutes  the  secular  clergy.  Murder  of  Edward 
II. ;  accession  of  Ethelred  the  Unready.  Progress  of  the  Danes.  Ethel- 
red  invades  Normandy ;  marries  Emma ;  orders  massacre  of  Danes  in 
England.  Sweyn's  supremacy.  Death  of  Ethelred,  murder  of  his  son, 
and  accession  of  Knut. 


V.  DANISH  KINGS  AND  SAXON  RESTORATION. 


I  ERE  were  now  five  English 
princes  who  might  have  been 
candidates  for  the  crown,  but  not 
one  of  age  or  character  enough 
to  dispute  it  with  the  victorious 
Dane.  Edmund's  own  brother 
died  the  following  year;  .his  half- 
brothers,  the  sons  of  Ethelred 
and  Emma,  were  in  Normandy 
with  their  uncle;  and  his  two 
little  children  were  sent  by  Knut 
to  the  King  of  Sweden,  with  a 
hint,  it  is  said,  that  they  were  to 
be  put  forever  out  of  the  way. 
King  Olaf,  choosing  the  more 
generous  construction  of  this  request,  sent  the  infant  princes 
to  be  educated  at  the  court  of  King  Stephen  of  Hungary. 

67.  Knut  had  already  summoned  a  council  of  the  whole 
nation  at  London,  which  chose  him,  by  a  nearly  unanimous 

vote,  to  be  ' '  King  of  the  English/'    Like  a 

A.  D.  1016-1035.  '  &  .  & 

wise  ruler,  he  then  set  himself  to  make  his 
authority  as  agreeable  as  possible  to  his  new  subjects.  He 
dismissed  his  Danish  followers,  having  first  paid  them  lib- 
erally by  a  tax  imposed  upon  the  English ;  he  restored  the 
laws  and  customs  of  Athelstan  and  Edgar;  and  he  provided 
for  security  of  life  and  property  by  strict  administration  of 
justice.  To  hush  the  claims  of  the  young  sons  of  Ethelred 
to  the  crown,  he  proposed  to  marry  their  widowed  mother; 
and  Emma  consented  to  the  strange  alliance. 

68.  Knut  was  a  very  pious  king,  according  to  the  ideas 

(42) 


Death  of  Harold  at  Hastings. 


A.  D.  1 04 1.]  KNUT  AND  HIS  SONS. 


43 


of  the  time.  He  bestowed  much  wealth  upon  churches  and 
monasteries,  and  went  to  Rome  in  the  character  of  a  pilgrim. 
Thence  he  wrote  a  kind  and  fatherly  letter  to  his  people, 
telling  them  the  events  of  his  journey,  describing  the  gifts 
and  honors  which  had  been  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Pope 
and  by  the  Emperor  Conrad,  in  whose  coronation  he  bore  a 
distinguished  part;  and  the  privileges  he  had  been  able  to 
obtain  for  his  people.  He  confesses  that  the  early  years  of 
his  reign  were  oppressive,  and  promises  redress,  assuring 
them  that  King  Knut  needs  no  money  which  must  be  gained 
by  injustice.  If  we  modernize  the  spelling,  we  find  this 
"King's  English"  easy  to  understand:  "First,  above  all 
things,  are  men  one  God  ever  to  love  and  worship,  and  one 
Christendom  with  one  consent  to  hold,  and  Knut  King  to 
love  with  right  truthfulness." 

69.  As  the  sovereign  of  a  great  Scandinavian  empire, 
Knut  often  had  to  quit  his  island-kingdom  to  resist  the  in- 
roads of  his  neighbors  on  the  Continent.  In  one  of  these 
campaigns,  the  Saxon  Earl  Godwin  won  the  King's  gratitude 
by  his  magnificent  energy  and  valor;  and  was  rewarded  by 
marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Knut,  as  well  as  by  his  perfect 
confidence  and  esteem.  Knut  left  three  sons :  Sweyn  and 
Harold  from  a  first  marriage,  and  Hardiknut,  son  of  Emma. 
The  latter  should,  by  his  parents'  marriage  contract,  have 
succeeded  to  the  English  throne ;  but  he  was  absent  in  Den- 
mark, and  was,  moreover,  hated  by  the  Anglo-Danes.  Harold 
was  therefore  proclaimed  king;  but  Earl  Godwin  upheld  the 
rights  of  Hardiknut,  and  the  question  was  at  length  settled 
by  a  division,  the  younger  prince  having  all  the  shires  south 
of  the  Thames. 

70.  Harold  died  in  A.  D.  1040,  and  Hardiknut  became 
king  of  all  England.  He  was  a  drunken  wretch,  and  his  short 
reign  presents  nothing  worth  mentioning.  Upon  his  death, 
his  half-brother,  Edward,  now  the  only  surviving  son  of 
Ethel  red  and  Emma,  came  to  the  throne  by  the  hearty  choice 


44 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1042. 


of  the  people.    "Before  Harold,  King,  buried  were,  all  folk 
chose  Edward  to  king  at  London,"  says  the  old  Saxon  chron- 
icle.   But  their  joy  in  the  restoration  of  their 

A.  D.  1042-1066.  .        .  *  1 

native  line  of  rulers  was  soon  clouded  by  disap- 
pointment. Edward  was  in  fact  a  Frenchman,  half  by  birth 
and  wholly  by  preference.  He  loved  the  land  of  his  educa- 
tion and  early  years  better  than  that  which  he  was  called  to 
rule.  Most  of  the  high  places  in  the  church  and  about  his 
court  were  given  to  Normans,  who  despised  the  civil  freedom 
and  sneered  at  the  barbarous  language  and  manners  of  the 
English.  They  could  not  understand  a  government  where 
even  a  churl  might  have  his  place  in  the  great  council,  and 
under  which  the  poorest  man's  hut  was  as  inviolable  as  the 
earl's  castle. 

71.  This  feeling  came  to  a  violent  outbreak  when  Eustace, 
Count  of  Boulogne,  a  great  lord  from  over  the  Channel, 
came  to  visit  his  brother-in-law,  King  Edward,  with  a  long 
train  of  attendants.  Returning  through  Dover,  his  followers 
attempted  to  force  themselves  into  free  quarters  in  the  houses 
of  the  citizens.  The  master  of  one  house  was  killed  while 
defending  his  home,  and  the  whole  city  rose  in  tumult  to 
avenge  him.    Nearly  forty  persons  were  killed  on  both  sides. 

The  Count,  hastening  back  to  Edward's  court,  bitterly 
complained  of  the  insult  to  his  dignity,  and  demanded  the 
punishment  of  the  offenders.  The  King  instantly  ordered  a 
military  execution,  with  all  the  horrors  of  fire  and  sword; 
but  Earl  Godwin,  who  was  Governor  of  Dover,  firmly  re- 
fused to  execute  the  sentence.  He  told  Count  Eustace  that 
law,  not  violence,  was  supreme  in  England :  let  him  bring 
his  complaint  into  a  court  of  justice,  and  all  who  were  guilty 
would  surely  be  punished. 

72.  For  this  defense  of  his  countrymen,  Earl  Godwin  and 
his  four  sons  were  banished;  and  their  governments,  com- 
prising one-third,  of  all  England,  were  given  to  others.  Their 
private  estates  were  confiscated;    and  even  the  Queen,  a 


A.  D.  1052.] 


EARL  GODWIN. 


45 


daughter  of  Godwin,  was  imprisoned  in  a  convent.  Nothing 
remained  to  oppose  the  foreign  party  in  the  court,  and 
within  a  few  months,  William,  Duke  of  Normandy,  came 
with  a  great  retinue  to  visit  the  King.  He  was  received 
with  great  honors,  and  so  conducted  himself  as  to  acquire 
Edward's  confidence  and  good-will.  It  is  supposed  that  at 
this  time  the  King,  who  had  no  children,  promised  to  recom- 
mend his  Norman  cousin  to  the  witan,  as  a  candidate  for  the 
English  crown. 

73.  But  Godwin  was  not  yet  forgotten  by  the  nation  whose 
champion  he  was;  and  he  had,  moreover,  many  powerful 
friends  abroad.  His  son  Harold  raised  a  squadron  in  Ireland, 
while  Godwin  collected  a  still  larger  fleet  in  the  Flemish 
ports.  Joining  their  forces  at  the  Isle  of  Wight,  they  sailed 
to  London,  followed  along  the  shore  by  a  constantly  increas- 
ing multitude  of  men,  who  declared  their  determination  to 
live  or  die  with  the  great  Earl.  The  King's  levies  stood  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Thames;  but  Godwin's  army,  unsum- 
moned  save  by  its  own  will,  crowded  the  southern  bank. 
The  Earl  held  back  his  forces :  he  would  rather  die,  he  said, 
than  do  or  permit  any  act  of  irreverence  toward  his  lord  the 
King. 

74.  The  7ulte7iagemote,  now  summoned  to  decide  between 
the  native  and  foreign  government  of  England,  met  in  arms 
without  the  walls  of  London  (§  48).  With  his  four  brave 
sons,  Godwin  took  his  place  in  the  assembly.  He  knelt  and 
laid  his  battle-ax  at  the  feet  of  the  King ;  then,  rising,  asked 
leave  to  defend  himself  from  the  unjust  charges  which  had 
been  brought  against  himself  and  his  house.  His  short  but 
eloquent  speech  was  received  with  shouts  of  approval.  The 
voice  of  his  countrymen  pronounced  him  guiltless,  and  de- 
creed the  restoration  of  all  their  honors  and  estates  to  him- 
self, his  sons,  and  his  followers.  The  Queen  was  brought 
back  from  her  convent,  and  resumed  her  true  place  in  the 
court. 


46 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1052. 


75.  All  the  French  were  pronounced  outlaws,  because 
they  had  given  bad  counsel  to  the  King,  and  brought  un- 
righteous judgments  into  the  land.  A  third  decree  restored 
the  "good  laws"  of  Edward's  earlier  days.  At  the  first  de- 
cision to  refer  Godwin's  cause,  not  to  the  sword,  but  to  the 
votes  of  a  free  people,  the  Norman  bishops,  priests,  and 
knights,  who  had  been  eating  up  the  land,  took  horse  and 
fled :  even  the  Primate,  quitting  his  holy  office,  sought  refuge 
beyond  the  sea.  A  better  time  dawned  upon  England  when 
her  own  best  men  held  sway.  But  Earl  Godwin  did  not  live 
long  to  enjoy  his  restored  honors.  He  was  succeeded  in  all 
his  dignities,  and  in  more  than  his  popularity,  by  his  son 
Harold,  whose  noble  qualities  had  already  won  the  confi- 
dence of  king  and  people. 

76.  Under  Harold's  ministry,  an  invasion  of  Scotland  was 
ordered  by  the  witan,  and  executed  by  Siward,  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  —  a  chief  of  extraordinary  strength  and 
courage,  who  was  reputed  (ages  before  Mr.  Darwin  lived) 
to  have  had  for  one  of  his  ancestors  a  Norwegian  bear. 
Macbeth,  Thane  of  Moray,  had  murdered  his  king,  Duncan, 
and  possessed  his  throne.  But  Duncan's  son,  Malcolm,  now 
reclaimed  his  rights,  and  was  raised  by  Earl  Siward' s  victory 
to  the  throne  of  his  fathers.  Macbeth  was  slain  in  battle, 
four  years  later. 

Malcolm  had  spent  fifteen  years  of  his  exile  at  Edward's 
court,  where  he  laid  aside  his  Gaelic  speech  and  costume, 
and  acquired  that  foreign  culture  which  ever  afterward  pre- 
vailed in  the  Scottish  government,  however  odious  it  may 
have  been  for  a  time  to  the  Scottish  people.  The  history  of 
Malcolm,  in  fact,  was  much  like  that  of  his  patron  and  over- 
lord. Both  spent  their  youth  in  exile, — Edward  in  Nor- 
mandy, and  Malcolm  in  England ;  and  both  exchanged  their 
native  language,  tastes,  and  habits  for  those  of  more  cultivated 
nations. 

77.  King  Edward,  growing  old  and  having  no  son,  sent 


A.  D.  1065.] 


HAROLD  AND  WILLIAM. 


47 


to  Hungary  for  his  nephew,  the  only  surviving  son  of  Ed- 
mund Ironsides  (§  66).  But  the  prince  died  a  few  days  after 
his  arrival  in  England,  leaving  his  son  Edgar,  with  two  sisters, 
as  the  sole  representatives  of  Cerdic's  royal  line.  Edgar  the 
Atheling  was  a  feeble  child,  and  it  was  then  thought  essential 
that  an  English  king  should  be  born  and  bred  in  England. 
The  ' '  wise  men  "  had  therefore  to  look  for  another  successor 
to  the  throne  ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  their  choice  fell 
on  Earl  Harold,  who,  though  claiming  no  descent  from  Wo- 
den, was  the  greatest  living  Englishman  in  all  the  qualities  of 
mind  and  body  which  befitted  a  king.  He  had  been  intrusted 
since  his  father's  death  with  the  chief  administration  of  the 
English  government.  He  had  conquered  the  Welsh  and  es- 
tablished the  royal  authority  over  Scotland.  Every-where  his 
strong  hand  had  maintained  the  honor  and  safety  of  England. 

78.  At  one  time,  when  cruising  for  pleasure  in  the  English 
Channel,  he  had  been  shipwrecked  upon  the  Norman  coast. 
According  to  the  barbarous  custom  of  that  day,  he  was  seized 
and  held  for  ransom ;  but  as  soon  as  Duke  William  heard  of 
it,  he  ordered  his  release,  and  welcomed  him  with  splendid 
hospitality  at  the  Norman  court. 

Before  he  was  permitted  to  depart,  he  was  compelled  to 
enter  into  engagements  with  William,  the  nature  of  which  has 
been  very  differently  represented  by  different  writers.  Some 
say  that  he  promised  to  support  the  Duke's  pretensions  to  the 
English  throne,  and  to  put  him  in  possession,  even  during 
Edward's  life,  of  the  castle  and  well  of  Dover,  and  of  several 
other  fortresses  which  Harold  held  under  his  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  his  King.  If-  Harold  made  any  such  engagement, 
he  promised  what  it  would  have  been  treason  to  perform ; 
and  we  want  better  witness  than  that  of  his  enemies, — who, 
after  his  death,  sought  in  every  way  to  blacken  his  memory 
and  exalt  the  fame  of  the  Duke,  his  conqueror, — before  we 
believe  that  the  lifelong  champion  of  English  independence 
ever  swore  to  betray  his  country  to  the  Normans. 


48 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1063. 


79.  Returning  to  England,  Harold,  by  his  bravery  and 
prudence,  raised  himself  to  yet  higher  influence.  His  brother 
Tostig  had  been  appointed  Earl  of  Northumberland;  but  his 
merciless  enforcement  of  justice,  in  that  distracted  country, 
enraged  the  people,  who  rebelled  with  the  aid  of  Edwin  and 
Morcar,  grandsons  of  the  former  Earl.  Harold  was  sent  to 
put  down  the  revolt ;  but  finding  that  some  of  the  complaints 
against  his  brother  were  well  founded,  he  persuaded  the  King 
to  confirm  Morcar  in  the  earldom.  He  also  obtained  the 
government  of  Mercia  for  Edwin,  Morcar's  brother;  and  he 
married  their  sister,  widow  of  the  Welsh  prince  Griffith,  whom 
he  had  conquered. 

80.  King  Edward  died  Jan.  5,  1066.  From  his  death-bed 
he  stretched  out  his  hand  to  the  Earl  of  the  West  Saxons,  and 
said,  "To  thee,  Harold  my  brother,  I  commit  my  kingdom." 
In  spite  of  his  weaknesses  and  errors,  Edward  was  dearly 
loved  by  his  people ;  and  later  sovereigns  well  knew  that  the 
surest  way  to  win  their  favor  was  to  promise  the  enforcement 
of  his  laws.  He  was  the  first  English  king  whose  touch  was 
believed  to  be  a  cure  for  scrofula.  About  a  hundred  years 
after  his  death  he  was  canonized  as  a  saint,  and  is  usually 
called  "  the  Confessor."  He  was  buried  in  the  West  Minster, 
a  magnificent  church  which  he  had  dedicated  to  St.  Peter 
(§29)  a  few  days  before,  —  the  building  of  which  had  been 
the  chief  employment  of  his  later  years.  It  continues  to  this 
day  to  be  the  burial-place  of  England's  heroes  and  statesmen, 
though  her  princes  are  buried  at  Windsor.  Edward's  tomb 
is  among  its  most  imposing  objects,  and  near  it  is  the  chair 
of  stone  in  which  every  English  sovereign  sits  at  his  cor- 
onation. 

81.  On  the  same  day  and  under  the  same  roof  which 
witnessed  Edward's  burial,  Harold,  son  of  Godwin,  was 

crowned.    It  was  a  memorable  year  that  was 

A.  D.  1066.  .  3 

opened  by  these  solemn  rites.    Before  its  close, 
England  had  suffered  two  great  invasions  from  the  north  and 


A.  D.  1066.]  BATTLE  OF  STAMFORD  BRIDGE. 


49 


from  the  south,  had  raised  and  maintained  greater  fleets  and 
armies  than  she  had  ever  known  before,  and  finally  submitted 
to  the  yoke  of  the  Norman  conqueror. 

82.  Tostig,  the  brother  of  Harold,  was  the  only  domestic 
traitor  of  whom  we  know.  He  stirred  up  Harold  Hardrada, 
King  of  Norway,  to  make  England  again  the  seat  of  a  great 
Scandinavian  empire,  like  that  of  Knut  (§  69).  With  a  fleet 
greater  than  had  ever  issued  from  any  northern  port,  joined 
by  ships  from  Iceland,  the  Orkneys,  Scotland,  Flanders,  and 
the  Danish  settlements  in  Ireland,  the  Norwegian  King  sailed 
southward  along  the  eastern  coasts  of  England,  burned  Scar- 
borough and  Holderness,  and,  landing,  defeated  Edwin  and 
Morcar  in  a  fierce  battle  near  York. 

83.  That  northern  capital  opened  its  gates  to  the  invader 
before  King  Harold  of  England  could  come  to  its  rescue. 
He  had  left  the  defense  of  the  northern  counties  to  their  own 
earls,  while  he  himself  watched  the  southern  coast,  where  the 
Normans  were  expected.  But  when  he  heard  of  the  ill  suc- 
cess of  Edwin  and  Morcar,  he  marched  northward  with  all 
speed. 

The  two  Harolds  met  at  Stamford  Bridge,  and  in  a  hard- 
fought  battle  of  a  whole  day,  the  northern  hosts  were  over- 
thrown. Their  King  and  leader  was  slain :  Tostig,  too, 
expiated  his  treason  with  his  life.  In  the  midst  of  a  banquet 
at  York  in  honor  of  this  victory,  Harold  of  England  received 
news  of  the  landing  of  the  Normans  in  Sussex. 

84.  When  Duke  William,  hunting  in  the  park  near  Rouen, 
heard  of  King  Edward's  death  and  of  Harold's  accession  to 
the  throne,  he  was  filled  with  rage,  and  branded  the  Saxon 
prince  as  a  perjurer  and  usurper.  He  instantly  sent  off  an 
embassy  summoning  Harold  to  resign  his  crown.  This  King 
Harold  naturally  refused  to  do ;  and  he  even  expelled  from 
England  all  the  Normans,  who  by  King  Edward's  favor  had 
been  growing  rich  in  English  offices  and  estates.  William 
was  neither  disappointed  nor  displeased;  for  this  response 

Eng.— 5. 


5° 


OLD  ENGLAND, 


[A.  D.  1066. 


opened  a  way  for  the  movement  which  he  had  long  ago  re- 
solved to  make. 

85.  An  army  of  60,000  men  was  on  foot,  and  a  fleet  of 
nearly  1,000  sail  was  soon  ready  to  convey  it  across  the 
Channel.  The  Pope  blessed  and  furthered  the  enterprise, 
on  condition  that  the  kingdom,  when  conquered,  should  be 
held  as  a  fief  of  St.  Peter.  The  great  battle  which  was  to 
turn  the  fate  of  England  was  fought  at  Senlac,  nine  miles 

from  the  seaport  of  Hastings.    Harold  fought  on 

Oct.  14,  1066.  1  .    .     b  & 

foot  at  the  head  of  his  infantry;  but  the  best  of 

his  soldiers  had  fallen  in  the  north,  and  the  rest  were  wearied 

writh  forced  marches,  while  the  Normans  were  fresh  and 

confident. 

The  English  were  more  or  less  disheartened  by  the  Pope's 
displeasure  ;  and  they  had  tried  to  drown  their  terrors,  during 
the  night  before  the  battle,  by  revelry  which  had  not  made 
their  hands  more  steady  or  their  hearts  stronger.  Neverthe- 
less, both  sides  fought  with  a  bravery  worthy  of  the  prize  for 
which  they  were  contending,  and  the  battle  raged  from  morn- 
ing until  long  after  nightfall.  At  one  time  the  cry  arose  that 
the  Duke  of  Normandy  was  slain,  and  his  followers  almost 
every-where  gave  way;  but  William,  galloping  bare-headed 
over  the  field,  at  length  succeeded  in  rallying  them. 

86.  At  last  the  Saxon  King  and  his  two  brothers  fell,  and 
the  English  ranks  were  broken.  The  scattered  hosts  were 
pursued  with  great  slaughter,  and  the  field  remained  to  the 
Norman  Duke.  The  Pope's  consecrated  banner  took  the 
place  of  Harold's  standard;  and  on  the  same  spot  the  altar 
of  a  magnificent  abbey  was  erected  by  •  the  Conqueror,  that 
perpetual  prayers  might  be  offered  for  the  repose  of  the  souls 
that  had  passed  away  in  that  fierce  conflict. 

87.  The  important  towns  of  Dover,  Canterbury,  and  Win- 
chester surrendered  freely  to  William.  Earls  Morcar  and 
Edwin,  with  Stigand,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  made  an 
attempt  to  crown  Edgar  the  Atheling  (§  77),  at  London.  But 


BATTLE  OF  HASTINGS. 


5* 


the  northern  earls  had  plans  of  their  own  more  important  to 
them  than  the  defense  of  England.  They  withdrew  their 
forces,  and  the  young  king-elect,  with  most  of  his  sup- 
porters, repaired  to  William's  camp  and  offered  their  sub- 
mission. The  chief  men  of  southern  England,  churchmen 
and  statesmen,  seeing  no  further  hope  of  resistance,  begged 
the  Conqueror  to  accept  the  English  crown.  They  hoped 
that  the  holy  office  (for  such  it  was  then  considered)  of 
anointing  and  coronation  would  work  as  great  a  change  in 
him  as  it  had  wrought  in  Knut  (§  67),  and  convert  the  stern 
invader  into  a  wise  and  beneficent  sovereign, 

RECAPITULATION. 

Knut,  being  chosen  king  by  the  Great  Council,  rules  England 
wisely  and  well.  Visits  Rome ;  has  frequent  wars  in  his  northern 
empire  ;  confers  power  on  Earl  Godwin  ;  is  succeeded  by  his  two  sons, 
Harold  and  Hardiknut ;  the  latter  survives  his  brother,  and  reigns  a 
year  alone. 

"  Edward  the  Confessor,"  becoming  king,  gives  many  offices  and 
favors  to  foreigners.  Godwin  withstands  the  insolence  of  Count 
Eustace,  and  is  exiled  with  his  sons.  Visit  of  William,  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, to  England.  Godwin's  triumphant  return  ;  expulsion  of  the 
French.  Harold,  Godwin's  son,  becomes  chief  minister  at  his  father's 
death.  War  against  Macbeth  of  Scotland ;  restoration  of  Malcolm 
Canmore.  Death  of  Edward  the  Atheling ;  choice  of  Harold  to  suc- 
ceed King  Edward.  His  visit  to  Normandy;  his  just  dealings  with 
Northumberland.    Death  of  King  Edward  ;  coronation  of  Harold  II. 

England  is  invaded  by  Harold  of  Norway,  who  conquers  York,  but 
is  defeated  and  slain  at  Stamford  Bridge.  William  of  Normandy  de- 
feats Harold  of  England  in  the  great  battle  of  Senlac,  near  Hastings, 
and  southern  Britain  submits  to  the  Conqueror. 


VI.  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


WE  pause  a  moment  to  see  how  the  English  people  lived 
before  they  received  a  foreign  king,  and  became  sub- 
ject to  foreign  customs  and  laws.  The  Danish  and  Saxon  sea- 
rovers  had  settled,  by  this  time,  into  orderly  people,  tilling 
the  soil,  working  the  mines, — though  less  thoroughly  than 
the  Romans  had  done,  —  and  carrying  on  an  active  trade 
with  the  Continent.  English  women  were  noted  for  their 
embroidery  in  gold  thread,  which  was  greatly  valued  in  the 
French  and  Flemish  cities. 

89.  Their  houses  were  low  wooden  buildings,  with  a  hole 
in  the  roof  in  place  of  a  chimney,  and  with  wooden  benches 
for  chairs.  A  few  very  rich  men  had  glass  in  their  windows ; 
but  no  one  had  carpets,  though  the  walls  were  often  covered 
with  richly  embroidered  tapestry. 

90.  Before  the  time  of  Alfred,  the  monasteries  were  the 
only  schools.  They  were  not  as  strict  and  gloomy  as  the 
Benedictine  institutions  which  Dunstan  afterward  introduced, 
but  were  more  like  great  families  gathered  under  one  roof,  or 
in  a  cluster  of  adjoining  buildings,  for  study  and  devotion. 
Baeda  —  or  the  Venerable  Bede,  as  he  is  commonly  called  — 
A  D  6      ,     the  first  great  English  scholar,  and  the  father  of 

'  7  7o*  English  learning,  spent  his  long  life  in  teaching 
the  monks  of  Jarrow,  and  the  boys  whom  their  parents  sent 
thither  for  instruction.  For  the  benefit  of  his  pupils,  he  put 
into  familiar  Latin  text-books  all  that  Western  Europe  then 
knew  of  science,  literature,  and  the  rules  of  music.  His 
best  known  work  is  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  English 
Nation,  which  is  written  in  Latin.  He  died  at  the  moment 
of  completing  a  translation  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  into  his 
own  English  tongue. 

91.  On  the  high  cliffs  of  Whitby,  looking  out  over  the 

(52) 


CsRDMON. 


53 


German  Ocean,  the  Abbess  Hilda,  a  woman  of  royal  birth, 
ruled  a  seminary  of  bishops  and  priests,  as  well  as  a  con- 
vent of  nuns.  So  great  was  her  wisdom,  that  kings  sought 
her  counsel  in  state  affairs.  But  her  monastery  is  no  less 
celebrated  as  the  home  of  Csedmon,  the  first  great  English 
poet,  who  was  only  a  poor  cowherd.  The  English  people 
loved  music  and  the  rough  verses  which  recounted  the  brave 
deeds  of  their  ancestors  on  sea  and  on  land.  After  their 
evening  meals,  it  was  customary  to  pass  the  harp  from  hand 
to  hand,  that  each  in  turn  might  sing  for  the  entertainment 
of  the  rest.  Caedmon  the  cowherd  could  not  sing;  so  he 
was  accustomed  to  slip  away  when  the  harp  came  near  him. 

92.  One  night  when  he  had  taken  refuge  in  the  stables,  he 
saw  a  heavenly  vision  which  said,  ' ( Sing,  Caedmon,  some 
song  to  me."    "I  can  not  sing,"  he  replied, 

A.  1).  664. 

trembling.  "  However  that  may  be,  you  shall 
sing  to  me,"  rejoined  the  visitant.  4 4  What  shall  I  sing?" 
murmured  Caedmon,  ' 'The  beginning  of  created  things," 
was  the  reply ;  and  immediately  there  flowed  from  Caedmon' s 
lips  a  noble  song  of  the  Creation.  He  woke  and  felt  that  a 
new  power  had  been  given  him.  The  Abbess  and  brethren 
bade  him  quit  his  humble  toil  and  enter  their  order ;  and  the 
rest  of  his  life  was  employed  in  rehearsing  in  Saxon  verse  the 
whole  Sacred  History  as  recorded  in  the  Bible. 

93.  The  zeal  of  the  Irish  missionaries  made  the  north  of 
England  far  superior  to  the  rest  of  the  island  in  means  of 
education.  The  first  English  library  was  kept  in  the  cathedral 
at  York;  and  here  a  famous  school  was  presided  over  first 
by  Archbishop  Egbert,  and  afterward  by  Alcuin,  the  friend 
of  Charlemagne.  King  Alfred  said  that  at  his  accession  he 
knew  no  person  south  of  the  Thames,  and  but  few  south  of 
the  Humber,  who  understood  the  prayers  in  the  churches; 
In  that  age,  indeed,  many  a  king  "  made  his  mark"  at  the 
foot  of  charters  and  treaties,  because  he  could  not  write  his 
name.    Alfred  provided  for  the  education  of  his  subjects 


54 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


south  of  the  Watling  Street,  and  he  is  even  claimed  as  the 
founder  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  However  this  may  be, 
he  was  the  founder  of  English  prose-writing.  The  * '  Anglo- 
Saxon  Chronicle,"  first  reduced  to  regular  form  in  his  day, 
and  kept  for  centuries  by  the  monks  of  Abingdon  and  Peter- 
borough, is  our  chief  authority  for  early  English  history. 

94.  The  relations  between  nobles  and  common  people  un- 
derwent some  important  changes  under  the  later  Saxon  kings. 
Many  free  land-holders,  unable  to  maintain  their  independence, 
attached  themselves  to  powerful  lords,  engaging  to  follow  them 
in  war,  and  sealed  the  agreement  by  the  ceremony  of  homage. 
Kneeling  before  his  new  master,  the  vassal  promised  to  be 
" his  man  for  life  and  limb."  The  same  ceremony  was  re- 
peated, with  greater  magnificence,  when  the  King  of  Scots 
did  homage  to  Edgar  or  Edward  for  his  earldoms  of  Cumbria 
and  Lothian,  or  when  the  great  Duke  of  Normandy  rendered 
his  princely  fealty  to  the  King  of  the  French. 

95.  This  "  Feudal  System"  of  military  service  in  exchange 
for  lands  and  protection  was  universal  in  France,  and  it  was 
fixed  upon  England  by  the  Norman  Conquest,  especially  after 
the  great  revolts  and  confiscations  which  resulted  from  the 
Conqueror's  absence.  It  was  then  assumed  that  the  whole 
land  belonged  to  the  King,  who  divided  it  in  knights'  fees 
among  his  followers,  not  only  by  way  of  rewarding  their 
services,  but  for  precaution  against  another  English  insurrec- 
tion. This  standing  army  of  60,000  knights,  whose  strong 
castles  commanded  the  entire  country,  completed  the  work 
which  the  Battle  of  Senlac  had  begun. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Industry  and  simple  dwellings  of  the  Saxons.  Schools  in  the  mon- 
asteries. Labors  of  Bede  as  writer  and  teacher.  Hilda's  abbey  at 
Whitby  is  the  home  of  Credmon  the  poet.  Libraries  and  schools  in 
the  north  of  England.  Alfred's  labors  in  the  south.  Rise  of  the 
Feudal  System  ;  it  becomes  permanent  after  the  Norman  Conquest. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW. 


PART  I. 


1.  What  is  known  of  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  Britain?  I,  2 

2.  What  evidence  exists  of  the  habits  of  these  prehistoric  people  ?  3-5 

3.  Who  were  the  first  known  visitors  to  the  British  Isles  ?  6 

4.  Describe  the  wars  of  Csesar  with  the  Britons.  7,  8 

5.  The  campaigns  of  Plautius  and  Ostorius.  9,  10 

6.  The  Druids,  and  their  extermination.  n-13 

7.  The  revolt  of  Boadicea.  14 

8.  The  policy  and  success  of  Agricola.  15 

9.  The  inhabitants  of  Northern  Britain.  16,  20,  21 

10.  What  Roman  emperors  were  at  any  time  in  the  island?  9,  16-18 

11.  Who  was  the  first  Christian  emperor?  18 

12.  What  were  the  effects  of  Roman  influence  in  Britain?     9,  15,  19 

13.  Describe  the  second  conquest  of  Britain.  17   22,  25 

14.  The  customs  of  the  Germans.  26,  45,  49,  50 

15.  Why  did  the  Romans  abandon  Britain?  21 

16.  What  was  the  condition  of  Ireland  in  the  fifth  century?  24 
17  When  and  how  was  Christianity  introduced  into  Britain? 

18,  24,  25,  27-30 

18.  Name  the  German  kingdoms  in  England.  25 

19.  What  kings  gave  tribute  to  the  Pope?  31 

20.  Which  kingdom  ultimately  absorbed  all  the  rest?  26,  32,  33 

21.  Describe  the  Danish  incursions.  34,  35 

22.  The  youth  and  reign  of  Alfred.  36-46 

23.  On  what  conditions  were  the  Danes  settled  in  England  ?  43 

24.  Describe  the  dominion  of  Edward  the  Elder.  47 

25.  The  greatness  of  Athelstan.  51,  52 

26.  The  reigns  of  his  brothers.  53 

27.  The  character  and  history  of  Dunstan.  54-5S 

28.  •  The  reign  of  Edgar  the  Pacific.  57~6o 

29.  Tell  about  monks  and  monasteries  in  England.        28,  30,  44,  60 

30.  Describe  the  two  sons  of  Edgar.  61-65 

31.  The  reigns  of  Knut  and  his  sons.  67-70 

(55) 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


32.  Tell  the  history  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  66,  70-77,  80 

33.  What  relations  between  the  kings  of  Scotland  and  of  England  ? 

53,  58,  63,  76 

34.  Relate  the  history  of  Harold,  Godwin's  son.  75-86 

35.  Describe  the  Norman  Conquest.  84-87 

36.  The  houses  and  employments  of  the  Saxons.        88,  89 

37.  The  early  English  monasteries.  90,  91 

38.  Tell  the  story  of  the  first  English  poet.  91,  92 

39.  What  differences  between  the  north  and  south  of  England?  93 

40.  Describe  the  rise  and  progress  of  feudalism  in  England.     94,  95 


Saxon  and  Danish  Kings. 


Egbert. 
I 

Ethelwolf. 


I  I  I  I  I 

Athelstan.  Ethelbald.  Ethelbert.  Ethelred.  Alfred. 


1 


1  1  l 

Edmund.  Ethelward.  Edward. 


I 


I  I  I 

Athelstan.  Edmund.  Edred. 

I 


I  I 

Edwy.  Edgar. 

I 


I  I 

Edward  Ethelred  II.  m.  2  Emma  of 

the  Martyr.  I  Normandy,  who  m.  2  Knut, 

§61.  Edmund  I 

Ironside.  Edward 

I  the  Confessor. 

I  I  Hardi- 

Edmund.  Edward  knut. 

'i'i  66,  77.  the  Exile.  g  69. 

I 


I  I 

Edgar  Margaret  m.  King  Malcolm  III. 

the  Atheling.         of  Scotland.    §  99. 

U  77,  87.    ^  I 

Matilda  m.  Henry  T.  of 
England.    \  115.     (Seep.  69.) 


PART  II.-FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


I.  THE  REIGN  OF  THE  CONQUEROR. 


Norman  Knights. 


ILLIAM  of  Normandy  was 
crowned  in  Westminster  Ab- 
bey, Dec.  25,  1066,  one  year 
from  the  day  of  its  consecra- 
tion (§  80).  Both  English 
and  Norman  nobles  were 
present,  and  perfect  good-will 
appeared  within  the  building. 
To  the  question,  "Will  you 
have  William,  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, for  your  king?"  both 
parties  answered  Yes,  with 
loud  acclamations.    But  the 


Norman  soldiers  without,  fancying  that  the  noise  meant  vio- 
lence against  their  Duke,  attacked  the  crowd  which  a  not 
unkindly  curiosity  had  collected  about  the  doors,  and  even 
set  fire  to  houses  in  the  neighborhood.  The  new  King,  after 
hastily  receiving  his  crown  from  the  Archbishop,  succeeded 
in  quieting  the  tumult;  but  not  until  a  bitter  sense  of  per- 
sonal wrong  had  been  added  to  the  national  despair  of  the 
English. 

(57) 


58 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND.  [A.  D.  1066. 


97.  William  loved  justice,  and  tried  to  reconcile  the  people 
to  his  rule  by  enforcing  the  laws  impartially  on  rich  and  poor, 
English  and  foreigners  alike.  He  attempted  to  learn  English, 
that  he  might  the  better  understand  and  govern  his  new 
subjects.  Though  he  placed  his  Normans  in  all  civil  and 
military  commands,  and  divided  among  them  the  estates  of 
those  who  had  fallen  at  Stamford  Bridge  and  Senlac,  he  at 
first  left  all  other  proprietors  in  possession  of  their  lands. 
He  built  strong  castles  to  overawe  London,  Winchester,  and 
other  cities ;  but  he  took  care  to  confirm  all  the  commercial 
and  other  privileges  which  those  cities  had  enjoyed.  By  thus 
covering  the  hand  of  steel  with  the  glove  of  velvet,  he  so  far 
smoothed  away  opposition  that  he  thought  it  safe  to  revisit 
Normandy,  taking  with  him  many  English  earls  to  swell  his 
royal  train,  and  display  the  wealth  of  the  conquered  country, 
while  they  served  as  hostages  for  the  good  behavior  of  their 
countrymen. 

98.  His  absence  was  a  disaster  to  England,  for  his  officers 
were  neither  so  just  nor  so  wise  as  their  chief;  and  their  vio- 
lence and  greed  aroused  hatreds  between  the  races,  which 
required  centuries  to  appease.  Only  half  of  England  was 
yet  conquered.  The  men  of  the  Danelagh  scorned  submis- 
sion to  the  Norman  Duke,  and  offered  their  homage  to 
Sweyn,  King  of  Denmark,  who,  in  A.  D.  1069,  entered  the 
H umber  with  a  great  fleet  and  army,  and  laid  siege  to  York. 
It  was  taken,  and  the  Norman  garrison  of  3,000  men  was  put 
to  the  sword. 

99.  Multitudes  of  the  English,  who  had  hitherto  smothered 
their  discontent,  took  courage  to  throw  off  the  Norman  rule, 
and  the  kingdom  was  every-where  ripe  for  revolt.  But  Wil- 
liam now  acted  with  extreme  and  effectual  severity.  To  guard 
against  future  inroads  of  either  Scots  or  Danes,  he  laid  waste 
the  whole  fertile  tract  between  the  Humber  and  the  Tees, 
and  one  hundred  thousand  persons  are  supposed  to  have 
perished  with  hunger  and  cold.     Many  of  the  Danes  and 


A.  D.  1074.]     REVOLT  OF  THE  NORMANS. 


59 


Saxons  took  to  the  woods  as  robbers  and  outlaws;  others 
repaired  to  Constantinople  and  enlisted  in  the  guards  of  the 
Emperor  of  the  East.  A  large  party  of  nobles  was  hospitably 
received  by  Malcolm  Canmore,  King  of  Scotland, — among 
them  Edgar  the  Atheling  with  his  two  sisters,  one  of  whom 
became  the  wife  of  the  Scottish  King. 

100.  The  greater  part  of  the  English  lands  were  now  di- 
vided among  William's  knights,  and  all  the  high  places  in 
church  and  state  were  bestowed  upon  foreigners.  Among 
these,  the  worthiest  was  Lanfranc,  a  Pavian  monk,  whose 
piety  and  learning  had  already  wrought  a  great  reformation 
in  the  Norman  monasteries,  and  who  was  now  made  Primate 
of  England. 

The  last  Englishman  who  retained  any  power  or  impor- 
tance was  Waltheof,  Siward's  son  (§  76),  who,  having  been 
received  into  the  Conqueror's  favor,  had  married  the  Lady 
Judith,  his  niece,  and  had  been  presented  with  three  rich 
earldoms.  Now  it  so  chanced  that  the  high-spirited  Norman 
barons,  who  always  resented  the  imperious  temper  of  their 
Duke,  had  become  still  more  restive  upon  his  elevation  to 
royal  rank;  and  at  a  wedding  party,  when  the  wine  was 
freely  flowing,  an  actual  revolt  was  proposed.  Waltheof 
assented  with  the  rest;  but  morning  brought  cooler  judg- 
ment, and  he  revealed  the  plot  to  his  wife.  If  Judith  had 
been  faithful,  all  might  yet  have  gone  well;  but  she  hated 
her  husband,  and  availed  herself  of  this  means  to  ruin  him. 

101.  The  King  was  then  in  Normandy,  where  he  received 
a  letter  from  Lady  Judith  informing  him  of  the  conspiracy, 
and  aggravating  Waltheof 's  guilt.  Waltheof  himself  hastened 
to  Normandy,  in  order  to  detail  the  whole  affair  to  the  King. 
But  William's  mind  was  poisoned;  and  departing  from  his 
usual  justice,  he  nursed  his  wrath  until  a  day  of  retribution. 
Before  his  return  to  England  the  revolt  was  suppressed  by 
his  officers,  with  the  aid  of  the  English  themselves ;  but  the 
punishment  of  the  offenders  was  reserved  for  the  King,  and 


6o 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1075. 


was  executed  with  uncommon  severity.  Some  were  deprived 
of  their  eyes,  some  immured  in  dungeons;  but  Waltheof,  the 
least  guilty,  suffered  the  heaviest  penalty :  he  was  condemned 
and  beheaded  as  a  traitor.  His  wife  gained  nothing  by  her 
crime ;  for  she  soon  fell  under  the  King's  displeasure,  and 
passed  her  life  in  shame  and  remorse,  the  object  of  universal 
contempt. 

102.  Waltheof 's  tomb  was  visited  as  the  shrine  of  a  martyr. 
The  English  believed  that  William's  good  fortune  deserted 
him  on  the  day  when  Waltheof  died.  ' '  His  bow  was  broken, 
his  sword  blunted,"  and  peace  departed  from  him.  The 
Conqueror's  last  years  were,  indeed,  visited  by  the  heaviest 
sorrows.  His  eldest  son,  Robert,  was  a  turbulent  and  mis- 
governed youth,  who  wished  to  enter  upon  his  continental 
dominions  even  during  his  father's  life-time.  A  party  of  tur- 
bulent young  courtiers  attached  themselves  to  the  Prince,  and 
the  quarrel  came  to  open  war.  The  King  of  France,  always 
jealous  of  the  Duke's  greatness,  gave  Robert  for  his  head- 
quarters a  fortress  on  his  father's  frontier,  whence  he  and  his 
wild  companions  sallied  forth  to  ravage  Normandy. 

103.  William  besieged  the  castle,  and  in  a  fight  beneath 
its  walls,  father  and  son,  both  concealed  by  their  helmets, 
met  in  deadly  combat.  William  received  a  wound,  and  his 
cry  for  aid  first  revealed  to  his  son  the  person  of  his  oppo- 
nent. Struck  with  remorse  and  terror,  Robert  fell  on  his 
knees  and  begged  his  father's  pardon.  By  the  intervention 
of  the  barons,  and  especially  of  Matilda,  the  noble  wife  of 
the  Conqueror,  peace  was  for  a  time  restored.  Robert,  vis- 
iting England  for  the  first  time,  was  intrusted  with  the  com- 
mand of  an  expedition  into  Scotland. 

104.  The  Scotch  and  the  Welsh  were  pacified,  but  William 
had  a  nearer  foe  to  meet  in  his  half-brother,  Odo,  whom  he 
had  intrusted  with  the  government  of  England  in  his  absence. 
Odo,  though  a  bishop,  had  desired  to  be  a  king;  but  this 
ambition  was  exchanged  for  a  still  higher  one.    The  reigning 


A.  D.  1087.] 


DOMESDA  Y-BOOK. 


61 


Pope,  Hildebrand,  had  offended  all  princes  by  his  overbear- 
ing conduct.  Odo  used  his  brother's  treasures  to  buy  votes 
in  Rome,  and  bribed  his  brother's  soldiers  to  enter  his  serv- 
ice, with  a  view  to  transporting  an  army  to  Italy  and  seizing 
the  papal  throne  by  force.  William  arrived  from  Normandy 
just  in  time  to  check  this  bold  enterprise.  He  arrested 
Bishop  Odo  with  his  own  hands,  and  sent  him  to  a  prison 
cell  in  the  castle  of  Rouen.  Good  Queen  Matilda,  worn  out 
with  cares  and  sorrows,  died  soon  afterward,  and  the  Con- 
queror was  scarcely  ever  seen  to  smile  again. 

105.  His  enemies  were  many.  King  Knut  of  Denmark 
prepared  a  great  armada,  with  the  secret  encouragement  of 
the  men  of  north-eastern  England,  hoping  to  regain  his  grand- 
father's island  dominions.  The  fleet  was  "  glued  to  the  coast" 
by  head-winds,  raised,  as  the  superstitious  believed,  by  the 
spells  of  wierd  women ;  but  the  only  magic  in  the  case  was 
wrought  by  English  gold,  artfully  distributed  by  King  Wil- 
liam's agents  among  the  Danish  chiefs. 

106.  In  order  to  distribute  evenly  the  charges  of  his  enor- 
mous preparations  for  defense,  William  resorted  to  the  most 
celebrated  act  of  his  reign.  Commissioners  were  appointed 
in  every  town  and  city  in  England,  except  London  and  the 
four  northern  counties,  to  make  an  exact  registration  of  all 
land  and  capital.  Their  reports  were  arranged  and  copied 
on  vellum  into  the  two  great  volumes  of  the  Domesday-Book, 
in  which  Englishmen  may  yet  see  the  possessions  of  their  an- 
cestors accurately  described. 

107.  Prince  Robert  was  again  in  rebellion,  and  it  was 
probably  by  his  influence  that  the  men  of  Mantes  declared 
war  against  King  William,  and  plundered  his  neighboring 
dominions.  In  revenge,  the  Norman  soldiers  set  fire  to 
Mantes;  and  their  King,  though  now  aged  and  heavy  with 
infirmity,  rode  to  see  the  ruin.  His  horse  stumbled  upon  a 
burning  brand,  and  the  King  received  a  mortal  injury.  Con- 
scious of  his  approaching  end,  he  divided  his  dominions 


62 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


among  his  sons.  Robert  was  to  have  Normandy,  the  ancient 
and  most  honorable  possession  of  his  house;  William,  sur- 
named  Rums,  was  to  be  King  of  England;  Henry,  the 
youngest,  had  no  lands,  but  he  received  a  great  treasure  in 
silver. 

1 08.  William  and  Henry  only  awaited  the  announcement  of 
their  inheritance,  then  hurried  away  to  secure  it,  leaving  their 
dying  father  in  the  care  of  hirelings.  No  sooner  was  the 
King's  breath  departed  than  his  attendants  rushed  to  horse, 
eager  to  secure  their  own  interests  under  the  new  reign. 
The  lowest  servants  purloined  every  article  within  reach, 
and  fled,  leaving  their  master  unattended  on  the  floor.  The 
obsequies  of  the  King  and  Conqueror  were  cared  for  by  a 
poor  knight  named  Herlouin,  who  as  sole  mourner  attended 
the  body  to  Caen,  there  to  be  interred  in  a  magnificent  abbey 
which  William  himself  had  built.  As  if  peace  were  denied 
the  unhappy  Conqueror  even  in  death,  Caen  was  at  that 
moment  a  prey  to  a  conflagration,  which  destroyed  a  great 
portion  of  the  city  and  dispersed  the  funeral  train,  leaving 
only  a  few  monks  about  the  corpse. 

log.  At  the  moment  when  "  Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust" 
was  about  to  be  chanted,  a  voice  rang  through  the  abbey 
forbidding  the  burial,  for  the  reason  that  the  ground  where 
the  grave  was  dug  had  been  unjustly  taken  from  its  rightful 
owner,  the  father  of  the  complainant.  The  funeral  rites  were 
suspended,  while  witnesses  were  examined  and  money  counted 
to  pay  the  debt :  then,  at  last,  the  mortal  body  of  the  Con- 
queror was  at  rest; 

^CAPITULATION. 

Coronation  of  William  the  Conqueror  at  Westminster;  he  begins 
his  reign  with  clemency.  Revolts  in  his  absence  from  England.  Dev- 
astation of  Yorkshire,  and  distribution  of  lands  and  revenues  among 
his  Norman  followers.  Primacy  of  Lanfranc.  Fall  of  Waltheof; 
troubles  of  William's  later  years.  Rebellion  of  his  sons.  Menaces 
of  the  Danish  King.    Domesday-Book.    William's  death  and  burial. 


II.   LATER  NORMAN  KINGS. 


ILLIAM  II.  (A.  D.  1087-1100),  arriv- 
ing in  England,  seized  the  royal  treas- 
ury and  several  fortresses  before  he 
made  known  his  father's  death.  The 
Primate,  Lanfranc,  then  made  haste  to 
crown  him,  before  opposition  could  be 
made.  The  new  King  was  a  selfish 
tyrant,  unrestrained  by  religion  or  law 
from  using  his  great  talents  solely  for 
the  pursuit  of  pleasure  and  power. 
Lanfranc's  death,  in  A.  D.  1089,  was 
an  occasion  of  bitter  sorrow  to  the 
English.  Though  foreign  both  to  Nor- 
mandy and  England,  he  was  the  friend, 
advocate,  and  protector  of  the  common 
people, — a  noble  office  which  became 
inseparable  from  the  primacy  in  the 
Church. 

in.  Rufus  hated  the  Church  as  a 
robber  hates  the  judge.  It  was  the 
only  power  that  could  rebuke  and  in 
some  degree  restrain  his  evil  passions. 
For  this  reason  he  kept  the  great  bishoprics  vacant  as  long 
as  possible,  or  sold  them  to  the  most  unworthy  persons; 
and  when  they  were  filled,  he  burdened  them  with  enormous 
taxes.  Upon  Lanfranc's  death,  the  King  kept  for  his  own 
use  the  great  revenues  of  the  see  of  Canterbury;  but  after 
some  years  a  severe,  illness  awakened  his  conscience,  and  he 
called  Anselm,  a  man  of  great  excellence  of  character,  to  fill 
the  vacant  place.    When  William  got  well  he  resumed  his 

(63) 


Death  of  William  II. 


64 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1096. 


old  crimes,  but  he  found  in  Anselm  a  firm  and  able  oppo- 
nent. Then  followed  a  long  and  angry  contest  between  the 
King  and  the  Primate ;  and  the  latter,  quitting  England,  took 
refuge  with  the  Pope. 

112.  Several  years  were  spent  in  wars  between  William 
and  his  two  brothers,  for  the  possession  of  their  father's 
whole  dominions.  Many  of  the  barons  had  estates  both  in 
England  and  Normandy,  and  it  was  impossible  for  them  to 
serve  two  masters  so  at  variance  as  were  William  and  Robert. 
At  this  time  a  strange  enthusiasm  had  seized  upon  all  nations 
and  ranks  of  people  in  Europe.  Palestine  had  been  con- 
quered by  the  Turks,  who  ill-treated  Christian  pilgrims  to 
the  holy  places;  and  at  the  appeal  of  the  sufferers,  all 
Christendom  sprang  to  arms,  eager  to  wrest  the  sepulcher 
of  Christ  from  the  hands  of  the  unbelievers.  Knights  who 
had  not  the  means  to  equip  their  followers,  sold  or  mort- 
gaged their  lands  for  ready  money ;  and  people  of  cooler 
blood,  who  staid  at  home,  often  grew  rich  by  these  invest- 
ments. 

113.  Robert  of  Normandy  was  among  the  leaders  in  the 
first  Crusade.    To  obtain  the  needful  funds*,  he  pledged  his 

entire  dominions  to  his  brother  William  for  10,000 

A.  D,  1096.  .  7 

marks.  William  was  not  troubled  by  either  zeal 
or  scruples  in  matters  of  religion.  He  extorted  the  money 
from  all  classes  of  his  subjects,  even  forcing  the  churches  to 
melt  their  gold  and  silver  plate  to  furnish  their  quota;  and 
then  hastened  to  seize  the  mortgaged  provinces,  hoping  that 
death  or  poverty  would  keep  Robert  from  ever  reclaiming 
them. 

114.  Among  the  worst  acts  of  the  Conqueror  had  been  the 
turning  of  large  tracts  of  land  into  hunting-grounds.  "He 
loved  the  tall  deer  as  if  he  were  their  father,"  says  an  old 
rhyme ;  and,  in  fact,  the  killing  of  the  King's  game  was  more 
heavily  punished  than  the  murder  of  a  man.  In  forming  the 
New  Forest  in  Hampshire,  sixty  villages  were  burnt.  Under 


A.  D.  iioi  ] 


HENRY  BEAUCLERC. 


William  Rufus,  one-third  of  all  the  lands  in  England  were 
"King's  Forests."  In  these  tracts  no  law  existed  excepting 
the  King's  own  will, — a  sufficient  reason  for  their  being  fa- 
vorite resorts  of  the  godless  King  and  his  reckless  followers. 
William  II.  was  killed,  by  the  arrow  either  of 
a  hunter  or  an  assassin,  while  hunting  in  the 
New  Forest,  —  the  third  of  his  family  who  met  violent  deaths 
within  the  same  inclosure ;  and  the  poor  people  whose  homes 
had  been  destroyed  for  this  cruel  sport,  exclaimed  that  his 
fate  was  a  proof  of  the  righteous  judgments  of  Heaven. 

115.  Henry  (A.  D.  1100-1135),  the  youngest  son  of  the 
Conqueror,  was  hunting  in  the  same  forest  when  he  heard 
of  his  brother's  death.  He  instantly  put  spurs  to  his  horse 
and  hastened  to  secure  the  royal  treasury  at  Winchester: 
then  galloping  on  to  London,  was  saluted  as  King  by  the 
bishops  and  nobles,  and  crowned  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
three  days  from  the  death  of  Rufus.  Henry,  who  had  been 
born  and  educated  in  England,  spoke  its  language  well, 
and  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  people.  His  writs  and 
charters  were  issued  in  English,  instead  of  Latin.  He  sol- 
emnly swore  to  observe  the  laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor, 
and  he  granted  to  London  its  first  municipal  charter.  His 
learning,  unusual  in  that  age,  gained  him  the  surname  of 
Beauclerc,  or  the  Fine  Scholar.  He  pleased  the  people  most 
of  all  by  marrying  Matilda,  the  Scottish  princess,  who  was 
great-granddaughter  of  Edmund  Ironsides  (§§  65,  66,  99), 
so  that  in  her  descendants  the  ancient  line  of  Cerdic  and  of 
Woden  was  held  to  be  restored.     (See  Table  p.  56.) 

116.  Duke  Robert,  returning  from  the  Holy  Land,  took 
undisputed  possession  of  Normandy,  and  then  proceeded 
with  his  army  of  crusaders  to  enforce  his  claims  to  the 
English  crown.  The  two  brothers  pitched  their  camps  in 
sight  of  each  other;  but  several  days  passed,  while  both 
dreaded  to  begin  the  unbrotherly  strife.  By  the  good  offices 
of  Anselm  and  others,  an  accommodation  was  made  at  length, 

Eng.— 6. 


66 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1106. 


Robert  receiving  3,000  marks  a  year  in  exchange  for  his 
claims  ;  but  the  treaty  was  kept  only  four  years.  Finding 
that  the  Norman  barons  were  dissatisfied  with  their  Duke, 
Henry  crossed  the  Channel  with  a  great  army  and  gained  a 
decisive  victory  over  his  brother;  then  receiving 
the  homage  of  all  the  vassals,  he  returned  to 
England,  carrying  Robert  with  him  as  a  prisoner.  The 
deposed  Duke  lived  twenty-eight  years  in  close  captivity, 
and  died,  at  last,  in  Cardiff  Castle. 

117.  His  son  took  refuge  with  the  King  of  France,  whose 
attacks  upon  Normandy,  in  the  name  of  the  young  prince, 
kept  King  Henry  in  continual  disquiet.  The  King  reaped, 
indeed,  little  joy  and  much  sorrow  from  his  ambitious  and 
unjust  schemes.  In  n  20,  having  concluded  a  peace  with 
the  French  sovereign,  he  was  sailing  gayly  from  Barfleur,  in 
company  with  his  only  and  idolized  son,  William,  who  had 
just  received  the  homage  of  the  Norman  barons  as  heir  of  all 
his  father's  dominions.  Some  accident  delayed  the  sailing  of 
the  prince's  vessel,  and  its  sailors  spent  the  time  in  a  carouse. 
When  at  last  it  got  to  sea,  the  drunken  pilot  ran  the  ship 
upon  a  rock,  and  all  on  board  were  drowned.  When  news 
of  the  terrible  disaster  reached  King  Henry,  he  fainted  away 
and  never  smiled  again. 

118.  His  only  child  was  now  Matilda,  wife  of  the  Emperor 
Henry  V.  In  that  turbulent  age,  sovereignty  demanded  mil- 
itary power  and  activity  for  its  support ;  and  neither  Normans 
nor  Saxons  had  ever  tried  the  hazardous  experiment  of  placing 
the  crown  on  a  woman's  head.  Nevertheless,  Henry  deter- 
mined that,  for  want  of  a  son,  his  daughter  should  succeed 
him.  After  the  Emperor's  death,  Matilda  was  married  to 
Geoffrey,  Count  of  Anjou ;  *  and  on  the  occasion  of  her 


*  Count  Geoffrey  was  wont  to  wear  in  his  cap  a  sprig  of  gcnesta, 
the  common  broom  of  Anjou  ;  whence  he  acquired  the  nickname  of 
"  Plantagenet,"  which  was  borne  by  all  his  royal  descendants. 


A.  D.  1 138.]        MATILDA  AND  STEPHEN. 


67 


second  marriage,  all  the  great  nobles,  both  of  Normandy 
and  England,  did  homage  to  her  as  their  liege  lady.  Their 
oaths  of  fealty  were  repeated  after  the  birth  of  her  son 
Henry;  and,  two  years  later,  King  Henry  died,  bequeathing 
all  his  dominions  to  Matilda. 

119.  Now,  there  was  a  grandson  of  the  Conqueror  (by  his 
daughter  Adela,  Countess  of  Blois)  who  felt  his  claims  in- 
fringed by  this  novel  assertion  of  a  woman's  rights.  Stephen 
of  Blois,  and  his  brother  Henry,  had  been  invited  to  England 
by  Matilda's  father,  and  had  been  loaded  by  him  with  honors 
and  estates.  In  return,  they  professed  great  gratitude  and 
affection  for  King  Henry,  and  desire  for  the  accession  of  his 
daughter  to  the  throne.  But  no  sooner  was  Henry  dead, 
than  Count  Stephen  hastened  to  London,  and  by  false  state- 
ments induced  the  Primate  to  crown  and  anoint  him  as  king. 
Great  reverence  was  felt  for  the  religious  rite  of  kingly  con- 
secration ;  and  its  effect  was  increased  by  a  bull  which 
Stephen  obtained  from  the  Pope,  confirming  his  title.  Nor- 
mandy followed  the  example  of  England,  and  acknowledged 
Stephen  (A.  D.  1135-1154)  as  its  sovereign. 

120.  Foreseeing  troubled  times,  not  only  the  barons  but 
the  clergy  now  fortified  their  dwellings;  and  the  land  began 
to  bristle  all  over  with  castles  which  were  strongholds  of 
feudal  violence  and  oppression.  Bands  of  robbers,  rushing 
forth  by  night  or  day  from  these  castles,  despoiled  harvest- 
fields,  villages,  and  even  cities;  tortured  their  captives  to 
make  them  confess  where  treasures  were  concealed,  and 
even  sold  them  into  slavery  beyond  seas.  Tillage  ceased, 
and  a  terrible  famine  seemed  like  a  scourge  of  God  upon 
the  wicked  passions  of  men. 

121.  King  David  of  Scotland  invaded  the  north  country, 
to  enforce  his  niece's  right  to  the  crown ;  but  he  was  defeated 
by  Stephen's  nobility  in  a  great  battle  at  North  Allerton. 
Matilda  herself  came  to  claim  her  kingdom,  and  was  joined 
by  many  barons  who  had  become  restive  under  the  iron  hand 


68 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND.  [A.  D.  1141. 


of  Stephen.  Her  chief  supporter  was  Robert,  Earl  of  Glou- 
cester, her  half-brother.  Henry,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  the 
Pope's  legate  and  brother  of  King  Stephen  (§  119),  also  for 
a  time  embraced  her  cause,  being  offended  in  a  violent  quar- 
rel between  his  brother  and  the  clergy.  In  a  battle  near 
Lincoln,  Stephen  was  captured,  and  sent  as  a  prisoner  to 
Gloucester  Castle. 

122.  Matilda  was  then  solemnly  acknowledged  as  queen 
by  an  assembly  of  the  clergy,  and  her  authority  seemed  on 
the  point  of  being  established  over  the  whole  kingdom.  But 
her  haughty  temper  cost  her  a  crown.  She  peremptorily 
refused  the  three  conditions  proposed  by  her  friends  :  the 
restoration  of  King  Edward's  laws;  the  confirmation  of 
Eustace,  son  of  Stephen,  in  his  father's  inherited  estates; 
and  the  release  of  Stephen  himself  from  imprisonment,  on 
his  promise  to  resign  all  claim  to  the  crown,  and  to  enter  a 
monastery. 

The  Pope's  legate,  offended  by  her  rejection  of  his  advice, 
took  up  arms  against  her;  and  Robert  of  Gloucester,  her 
brother  and  chief  defender,  was  soon  afterward  taken  in 
battle.  Matilda  was  compelled  to  exchange  King  Stephen 
for  him,  and  the  flames  of  civil  war  raged  for  some  years 
more  fiercely  than  ever.  At  length,  the  Queen  retired  into 
Normandy ;  and  about  the  same  time,  her  brother  died. 

123.  The  condition  of  affairs  changed  as  Prince  Henry, 
Matilda's  son,  grew  up  to  manhood.  He  spent  some  years 
in  Scotland,  whence  he  made  incursions  into  England;  and 
by  his  ability  in  war,  revived  the  confidence  of  his  party. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  was  made  Duke  of  Normandy 
by  his  mother's  consent ;  and  soon  after,  upon  the  death  of 
his  father,  he  became  Count  of  Maine  and  Anjou.  His 
a  d  11  2      fortunes  were  increased  by  marriage  with  a  great 

heiress,  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  the  discarded  wife 
of  the  French  King,  Louis  VII.  Henry  thus  possessed  the 
entire  western  coast  of  France. 


A.  D.  1 154.] 


DEATH  OF  STEPHEN. 


69 


His  promotion  in  rank  and  wealth  led  the  barons  in  Eng- 
land to  invite  him  thither,  and  in  n 53  he  crossed  the  Chan- 
nel with  an  army.  A  great  battle  was  averted  by  mediation. 
Stephen  and  Henry  spoke  with  each  other  from  opposite 
sides  of  the  Thames,  and  agreed  that  the  former  should 
possess  the  crown  during  his  life,  while  the  latter  was  ac- 
knowledged as  its  next  inheritor.  The  Duke  of  Normandy 
then  departed  from  England;  and  Stephen's  death,  which 
occurred  the  following  year,  made  way  for  Henry's  peace- 
able accession  to  the  throne. 


Death  of  Lanfranc.  William  Rufus  robs  the  Church ;  oppresses 
his  people;  quarrels  with  Anselm  ;  makes  war  with  his  brothers;  ob- 
tains mortgage  of  Normandy  ;  reserves  one-third  of  England  for  his 
hunting-grounds ;  is  killed  while  hunting  in  the  New  Forest. 

Henry  Beauclerc  marries  a  Saxon  wife  ;  writes  and  speaks  English. 
Defeats  and  imprisons  his  brother  ;  loses  his  only  son ;  bequeaths  his 
kingdom  to  his  daughter. 

Stephen  of  Blois  obtains  the  crown  with  the  Pope's  blessing. 
England  is  infested  by  robber-castles.  Matilda  invades  the  kingdom. 
Stephen  in  prison.  Matilda  rejects  the  terms  of  settlement ;  is  de- 
feated and  exiled.  Her  son  Henry  marries  the  Duchess  of  Aquitaine ; 
is  acknowledged  as  Stephen's  heir. 


RECAPITULATION. 


Norman  Line. 


William  I.,  the  Conqueror. 


Robert,  D.  of 
Normandy, 
d.  1134.    I  116. 


William  IT. 


Henry  I.  m. 
Matilda  of 
Scotland.   §  118, 


Adela  m 
Count  of  Blois. 


Stephen. 


William 

d.  1120.   g  117. 


Matilda  m.  2. 
Count  of  Anjou. 

Henry  II.  §  118.   (See  p.  82.) 


III.  THE  FIRST  OF  PLANTAGENETS. 


X-;\\i..\»s. 


IENRY  II.  (A.  D.  1154-1189)  began  his 
reign  with  energy.  He  demolished  the 
new  fortresses  which  had  been  robbers' 

Henry  II.  at  the  Tomb  •      r-s       •,       ,         •  i-      •       1  i 

of  Becket.  nests  in  Stephen  s  reign,  dismissed  the 

hired  soldiery,  and  restored  the  coin  to 
its  standard  purity.  Henry  was  equally  descended  from  the 
Norman  and  the  Saxon  kings ;  and  he  was  the  first  of  the 
Plantagenet  line,  which  ruled  England  331  years.    (§  115.) 

125.  The  old  struggle  between  king  and  clergy,  which  we 
have  remarked  in  the  days  of  Edwy  and  Dunstan,  Rufus  and 
Anselm,  was  now  renewed  with  increased  violence.  Thomas 
a  Becket,  the  son  of  a  London  merchant,  was  the  first  Eng- 
lishman since  Waltheof  who  had  risen  to  great  power  in  the 
realm.  He  had  improved  his  fine  talents  by  studying  law  at 
Bologna ;  and  after  his  return  he  was  loaded  by  King  Henry 
(70) 


A.  D.  1 164.]       THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY. 


7i 


with  offices,  revenues,  and  honors.  He  became  Lord  Chan- 
cellor ;  he  was  followed  by  an  army  of  knights ;  great  nobles 
and  even  the  King  often  accepted  his  hospitality,  and  sought 
his  aid  in  the  education  of  their  sons.  Having  proved  the 
Chancellor's  abilities  in  the  most  familiar  intercourse,  King 
Henry  thought  he  was  securing  a  useful  instrument  for  his 
war  upon  the  Church,  when  he  appointed  Becket  to  be 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

126.  But  with  his  promotion,  Becket' s  character  seemed 
to  undergo  a  sudden  and  complete  change.  He  withdrew 
from  court;  he  exchanged  his  costly  banquets  for  a  scanty 
fare  of  bread  and  water;  he  tore  his  flesh  with  the  scourge; 
and  every  day  washed  the  feet  of  thirteen  beggars,  in  imita- 
tion of  his  Master's  humility.  All  this  was,  in  effect,  to  de- 
clare war  against  the  King.  The  main  point  of  opposition 
was  in  the  claim  of  the  Church  to  judge  all  crimes  committed 
by  persons  in  her  employ,  independently  of  the  secular  courts. 
This  was  of  vital  importance ;  for  during  the  first  ten  years 
of  King  Henry's  reign,  at  least  one  hundred  murders  were 
committed  by  priests.  Soon  after  Becket's  consecration,  a 
clerk  committed  a  shameful  crime,  and  attempted  to  conceal 
it  by  murder.  The  King  commanded  the  offender  to  be 
given  up  to  justice.  Becket  kept  him  in  the  bishop's  prison, 
and  insisted  that  he  could  only  be  punished  by  deprivation 
of  his  office. 

127.  Henry  summoned  a  great  council  of  bishops  and 
nobles,  with  whose  consent  an  important  charter,  called, 
from  their  place  of  assembly,  the  "Constitutions 

1  J*  A.  D.  1164. 

of  Clarendon,"  was  given  to  the  people.  It  re- 
quired even  clerical  criminals  to  be  judged  by  the  civil  laws. 
Becket,  after  violent  resistance,  swore  to  support  the  Con- 
stitutions ;  but  when  the  Pope  published  a  bull  annulling  the 
instrument,  Becket  expressed  great  sorrow  and  contrition  for 
his  former  compliance,  and  tried  to  combine  all  the  bishops 
in  a  league  against  the  King. 


72 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1164. 


128.  Open  hostilities  were  prevented  by  Becket's  secret 
flight  from  the  kingdom.  King  Louis  of  France,  having 
many  causes  of  jealousy  against  the  King  of  England,  gladly 
received  the  Primate  with  all  the  honors  due  to  a  saint  and 
a  martyr.  During  his  absence,  the  King's  eldest  son  was 
crowned  as  associate  monarch  by  the  Archbishop  of  York. 
Becket  obtained  from  the  Pope  a  sentence  deposing  the 
northern  metropolitan,  and  excommunicating  all  the  bishops 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  service.  King  Henry  being  now 
in  Normandy,  Becket  passed  over  into  England,  and  was 
received  with  shouts  of  welcome.  The  common  people,  as 
well  as  the  clergy,  regarded  him  as  their  champion  against 
kingly  oppressions. 

129.  When  King  Henry  heard  of  Becket's  triumphal  en- 
trance into  Rochester  and  South wark,  he  exclaimed,  "  Is 
there  none  of  all  my  servants  who  will  rid  me  of  this  pesti- 
lent priest?"  Four  gentlemen  of  his  household  chose  to 
understand  these  words  as  intimating  a  desire  for  Becket's 
a  d  death ;  and,  hastening  to  England,  they  murdered 

17  the  Archbishop  within  his  own  cathedral  at  Can- 
terbury. The  King  solemnly  declared  himself  innocent  of 
the  crime,  and  the  Pope  consented  to  be  appeased.  But  the 
tomb  of  the  Primate  was  revered  as  the  shrine  of  a  martyr. 
In  one  year  100,000  pilgrims  flocked  thither  from  all  parts 
of  Christendom;  and  miracles  were  reputed  to  be  wrought 
by  the  holy  relics. 

130.  Henry  profited  by  the  interval  of  peace  to  complete 
the  conquest  of  Ireland,  for  which  he  had  long  ago  obtained 
permission  from  the  Pope.  It  was,  indeed,  already  accom- 
plished, chiefly  by  Richard  de  Clare,  more  commonly  called 
"Strongbow,"  afterward  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who,  by  taking 
advantage  of  feuds  among  the  five  Irish  kings,  and  by  mar- 
riage with  the  heiress  of  one  of  them,  had  obtained  control 
of  the  whole  island.  King  Henry  had  only  to  receive  the 
homage  of  his  new  subjects.    He  confirmed  most  of  the  Irish 


V 

A.  D.  1 174.]         THE  KING'S  PENITENCE. 


73 


chiefs  in  possession  of  their  ancient  estates,  on  condition  of 
feudal  homage;  and  appointing  Strongbow  as  his  seneschal, 
or  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  returned  to  England  to  receive 
the  congratulations  of  his  subjects,  and  the  Pope's  confirma- 
tion of  his  new  sovereignty. 

131.  The  tendency  to  family  quarrels  which  disgraced  the 
Norman  line,  seems  to  have  descended,  with  its  other  inher- 
itances, to  the  Plantagenets.  Henry's  four  sons  were  aided 
and  abetted  by  their  mother,  Queen  Eleanor,  and  by  her 
former  husband,  the  King  of  France,  in  rebellion  against 
their  father.  War  broke  out  in  his  French  dominions;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  his  English  kingdom  was  invaded  by  the 
Scots  from  the  north  and  the  Flemings  from  the  east. 

These  calamities  pricked  the  sluggish  conscience  of  the 
King,  and  he  resolved  to  make  peace  with  the  murdered 
Becket.  Crossing  from  Normandy  on  a  penitential  pilgrim- 
age, he  dismounted  as  soon  as  he  came  within  sight  of  Can- 
terbury Cathedral,  and  walked  with  bare  head  and  feet  to  the 
holy  shrine.  Here  he  fasted  and  prayed  all  day  and  all  night; 
and  causing  the  whole  brotherhood  of  monks  to  be  assembled, 
presented  each  with  a  scourge,  and  begged  them  to  apply  the 
lashes  severely  to  his  naked  shoulders,  "  for  the  good  of  his 
soul."  The  next  day  he  received  absolution  for  ^  ^ 
all  his  crimes  and  errors ;  and  soon  afterward  II74' 
learned  that  on  that  very  day  his  army  had  gained  a  decisive 
victory  over  the  Scots,  whose  king  it  had  captured.  The 
superstition  of  the  time  could  not  fail  to  accept  the  happy 
omen  as  proof  of  St.  Thomas's  forgiveness  and  the  favor  of 
Heaven.  The  King  of  France  also  made  peace ;  the  English 
princes  returned  to  their  obedience ;  and  the  King  of  Scot- 
land, with  all  his  nobles  and  bishops,  did  homage  to  Henry, 
acknowledging  the  suzerainty  of  the  house  of  Plantagenet 
over  himself  and  his  descendants. 

132.  King  Henry's  domestic  peace  was  not  of  long  dura- 
tion.   He  had  destined  Ireland  for  his  favorite  and  youngest 

Eng.— 7. 


74 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1 189. 


son,  John ;  but  that  prince  proved  his  wretched  unfitness  for 
governing,  by  driving  the  Irish  chiefs  into  rebellion,  and  the 
King  was  compelled  to  recall  him.  Prince  Henry  died  in 
France,  in  the  midst  of  his  rebellion;  and  Richard,  now 
heir  to  the  throne,  was  scarcely  relieved  of  a  war  with  his 
brother  Geoffrey,  by  the  latter's  death,  when  he,  too,  took 
up  arms  against  his  father. 

Humiliated  and  enfeebled  by  this  unnatural  conflict,  Henry 
at  last  consented  to  all  the  demands  of  his  enemies.  Among 
these  was  a  free  pardon  to  the  barons  who  had  taken  part  in 
Richard's  rebellion.  When  their  names  were  presented  for 
his  examination,  the  unhappy  King  found,  with  grief  and 
amazement,  that  John's  name  was  at  the  head  of  the  list. 
This  last  stroke  of  ingratitude  broke  his  heart;  and  after  a 
few  weeks'  illness  he  died  of  fever,  in  the  fifty-eighth  year  of 
his  age,  and  the  thirty-fourth  of  his  reign. 

133.  Henry  was  the  greatest  hereditary  monarch  of  his 
time,  both  for  personal  ability  and  for  the  extent  of  his  do- 
minions. In  the  intervals  of  war,  he  made  many  improve- 
ments in  the  administration  of  his  kingdom,  among  which 
the  greatest  was  the  appointment  of  traveling  judges,  who 
made  circuits  through  the  country,  trying  all  causes  which 
were  brought  before  them.  In  this  way,  the  subject  was 
spared  the  great  expense  of  a  journey  to  the  capital,  and 
justice  was  made  easily  accessible  to  all  the  people. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Plantagenet  Line  begins  with  Henry  II.,  who  restores  order  in 
England.  Is  the  friend  and  patron,  but  afterward  the  resolute  oppo- 
nent of  Becket.  "Constitutions  of  Clarendon"  restrict  the  power  of 
the  Church.  Becket  is  protected  by  the  King  of  France.  Returning 
to  England,  is  murdered  by  King  Henry's  servants  in  his  own  church 
at  Canterbury.  Conquest  of  Ireland.  Rebellion  of  King  Henry's 
sons.  His  penitence  at  the  tomb  of  "St.  Thomas."  Capture  of  King 
of  Scots,  who  becomes  Henry's  vassal.  Prince  John's  misconduct  in 
Ireland  ;  joins  his  brothers  in  rebellion.     King  Henry's  death. 


IV. 


KING  RICHARD  AND  KING  JOHN. 


[HE  story  of  Richard  I.  (A.  D.  1189- 
11 99)  scarcely  belongs  to  the  history 
of  England ;  for  of  the  ten  years  of  his 
reign,  less  than  one  was  spent  in  the 
kingdom  whose  crown  he  wore.  Rich- 
ard was  a  Frenchman, — a  valiant  cru- 
sader, a  brilliant  poet,  and  a  gallant 
hero  of  romance ;  but  he  was  not  an 
honest  man  nor  a  faithful  king.  His 
most  famous  acts  were  connected  with 
the  Third  Crusade,  of  which  he  was 
the  principal  hero.  His  hatred  of  un- 
believers—  a  very  Christian  sentiment, 
according  to  the  notions  of  those  days 
—  produced  sad  consequences  on  the 
day  of  his  coronation. 

135.  The  London  Jews,  who  were 
many  and  rich,  offered  gifts  of  gold  to 
celebrate  the  occasion.  But  the  King 
had  forbidden  them  to  approach  the 
banqueting  hall ;  their  messengers  were 
chased  away;  arid  suddenly  a  rumor 
spread  that  the  King  had  ordered  a 
general  massacre  of  all  the  Hebrews.  The  mob  broke  into 
their  houses,  killed  the  owners,  and  seized  their  hidden  treas- 
ures. The  horrid  frenzy  spread  to  other  cities  of  England. 
In  York,  500  Jews,  hoping  for  neither  justice  nor  mercy, 
first  killed  their  wives  and  children,  and  then  set  fire  to  the 
castle  in  which  they  had  taken  refuge,  and  perished  in  the 
flames. 

(75) 


Pope's  Legate  Spurning 
Crown. 


76 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1 190. 


136.  To  raise  money  for  his  crusade,  Richard  sold  lands, 
offices,  and  dignities  belonging  to  the  crown,  and  even  re- 
leased the  King  of  Scotland  from  his  allegiance,  restoring  the 
fortresses  of  Berwick  and  Roxburgh,  King  Henry's  proudest 
acquisitions.  Then  committing  his  kingdom  to  the  care  of 
the  bishops  of  Durham  and  Ely,  he  departed  for  the  holy 
war.  The  kings  of  France  and  England  met  at  Vezelay,  and 
found  that  their  united  armies  numbered  100,000  men.  They 
sailed  from  different  ports  in  the  Mediterranean,  but  storms 
compelled  both  to  spend  the  winter  in  Sicily,  where  their 
ardent  friendship  was  turned  into  rivalry  and  hatred. 

Richard  was  joined  at  Messina  by  the  Princess  Berengaria 
of  Navarre,  to  whom  he  was  already  betrothed.  As  the 
marriage  could  not  take  place  in  Lent,  she  sailed  in  company 
with  his  sister  for  the  Holy  Land.  Again  overtaken  by 
storms,  the  vessel  was  driven  into  a  port  in  Cyprus,  where 
the  ladies  were  treated  with  great  rudeness,  and  the  crews 
of  two  attendant  vessels  were  murdered  before  their  eyes. 
When  Richard  was  informed  of  the  insult,  he  landed  in 
Cyprus,  defeated  Isaac,  its  king,  in  two  battles,  took  him 
prisoner  and  loaded  him  with  chains,  assuming  for  himself 
the  sovereignty  of  the  island.  His  marriage  completed  the 
rejoicings  for  the  victory, 

137.  Arriving  in  Palestine,  the  two  kings  found  all  the 
Christian  forces  engaged  in  a  siege  of  the  important  seaport 
of  Acre,  which  had  withstood  them  two  years.  The  fresh 
courage  inspired  by  their  powerful  reinforcements,  secured 
the  surrender  of  the  city.  But  Philip,  now  disgusted  with 
Richard's  superior  fame,  soon  returned  home,  having  first 
taken  a  solemn  oath  not  to  meddle  with  the  English  or  Nor- 
man dominions.  Richard,  fighting  every  step  of  the  way, 
advanced  one  hundred  miles  from  Acre  to  Ascalon,  which 
he  captured.  His  proposed  attack  upon  Jerusalem  was  pre- 
vented by  dissensions  among  his  allies.  He  therefore  made  a 
truce  with  Saladin,  Sultan  of  Egypt,  securing  several  Medi- 


A.  D.  1 199.]         CAPTIVITY  OF  RICHARD. 


11 


terranean  ports,  with  perfect  freedom  of  pilgrimage  to  the 
Christians;  and  upon  receiving  important  news  from  Eng- 
land, set  out  for  home. 

138.  His  brother  John  had  seized  the  regency,  and,  in 
concert  with  King  Philip,  was  attempting  to  deprive  Richard 
of  all  his  dominions.  The  King,  after  various  adventures 
and  perils,  landed  at  a  port  in  the  Adriatic,  whence  he  tried 
to  make  his  journey  through  Europe  in  the  disguise  of  a 
merchant.    He  was  recognized  at  Vienna  by  his 

bitterest  enemy,  the  Duke  of  Austria,  and  was  1  92 

thrown  into  a  dungeon.  His  foes  all  hastened  to  profit  by 
his  misfortunes :  Philip  invaded  Normandy,  and  John  de- 
manded the  crown  of  England,  Both  sent  messengers  to 
the  Emperor,  offering  him  a  great  sum  of  money  to  keep 
Richard  in  perpetual  captivity, 

139.  Queen  Eleanor,  meanwhile,  besought  the  Pope  to 
interfere  for  her  son's  release;  setting  forth  the  shame  to  all 
Christendom  of  allowing  its  champion,  whose  strong  right 
arm  had  struck  down  so  many  enemies  of  the  cross,  to  lan- 
guish in  fetters.  Richard  was  summoned  before  the  Diet  of 
the  Western  Empire  to  plead  his  own  cause.  His  eloquence 
and  the  unexampled  fame  of  his  great  exploits,  moved  the 
hearts  of  the  princes  and  prelates;  and  it  was  agreed  to 
accept  a  ransom  of  150,000  marks,  —  equal,  probably,  to 
^2,500,000  of  English  money  now,  or  twelve  and  a  half 
millions  of  dollars.  All  classes  of  the  English  were  pinched 
to  raise  this  sum ;  and  many  might  have  questioned  whether 
their  King  was  worth  so  much.  But  they  remembered  the 
pitiless  extortions  of  John,  and  received  Richard  with  joy. 

140.  The  remainder  of  Richard's  reign  affords  little  worth 
telling.  He  forgave  his  treacherous  brother,  and  expelled 
Philip  from  the  dominions  he  had  overrun  in  western  France. 
He  was  killed  in  a  petty  quarrel  with  one  of  his  own  French 
vassals,  April,  1199. 


73 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1199. 


141.  John  was  crowned  at  Westminster,  the  following 
month.    Arthur  of  Brittany,  son  of  his  elder  brother  Geof- 
frey, claimed  the  French  provinces,  and  King 

•  "99  121  philip  espoused  his  cause.  Arthur  at  last  be- 
came the  prisoner  of  his  wicked  and  cruel  uncle,  by  whose 
own  hands,  there  is  great  reason  to  believe,  the  young  prince 
was  murdered.  If  John  expected  to  make  his  dominion  se- 
cure by  this  foul  deed,  he  was  as  short-sighted  as  criminals 
usually  are.  Philip,  as  his  feudal  superior,  summoned  him 
to  answer  for  his  crime ;  and,  as  John  did  not  appear,  pro- 
ceeded, with  the  concurrence  of  the  "  Peers  of  France,"  to 
deprive  him  of  all  his  fiefs  and  lordships  in  that  country. 
The  universal  horror  of  his  crime  wrought  powerfully  against 
him;  castle  after  castle  —  Anjou,  Maine,  Touraine,  Poitou, 
ultimately  Normandy  and  even  Aquitaine,  except  its  southern 
part,  known  as  the  Duchy  of  Guienne  —  fell  into  Philip's 
hands. 

142.  A  contest  with  the  Pope,  concerning  the  primacy  of 
England,  completed  John's  disasters.  Innocent  III.  was, 
perhaps,  the  most  able  and  ambitious  of  all  the  popes.  John 
had  elevated  one  of  his  favorites  to  the  vacant  see  of  Canter- 
bury ;  but  the  Pope  annulled  the  appointment,  and  compelled 
the  monks  to  choose  Stephen  Langton.  Langton  was  a  good 
man,  but  the  Pope's  act  was,  nevertheless,  a  violation  of  Eng- 
lish rights  in  church  and  state.  John  expelled  the  monks, 
and  took  possession  of  their  lands  and  money.  Innocent 
A  replied  by  laying  the  kingdom  under  an  inter- 
dict. *    The  next  year,  he  excommunicated 

the  King ;  and,  three  years  later,  absolved  all  his  subjects 
from  their  oaths  of  allegiance.    A  crusade  was  declared 

*  An  interdict  suspended  religious  services  in  the  country  against 
which  it  was  declared.  No  public  prayers  were  permitted  ;  no  mar- 
riages; no  funerals;  no  sacraments, — by  which  alone,  according  to 
the  belief  of  those  times,  the  life  of  the  soul  could  be  sustained. 
Excommunication  was  personal,  depriving  its  victim  of  all  Christian 
rights,  and  even  of  common  services  from  others. 


A.  D.  1215.] 


THE  GREAT  CHARTER. 


'79 


against  England;  and  Philip  Augustus  willingly  undertook 
to  enforce  the  Pope's  decree.  But  if  the  English  hated  John, 
they  did  not  love  Philip.  Mustering  a  great  fleet,  the  Earl 
of  Salisbury  crossed  the  Channel  and  attacked  the  French  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Seine.  His  victorious  armies  then  ravaged 
the  Norman  coast,  and  the  danger  of  a  French  invasion  was 
for  the  time  at  an  end. 

143.  Finding  no  encouragement  in  his  resistance,  John 
yielded  to  all  the  Pope's  commands.  He  restored  the  monks 
and  nuns  to  their  possessions;  he  recognized  Langton  as 
primate;  he  even  laid  his  crown  at  the  feet  of  Pandolf,  the 
legate,  and  promised  to  hold  England  and  Ireland  only  as  a 
vassal  of  Pope  Innocent  and  his  successors,  confirming  his 
obedience  by  a  yearly  payment  of  a  thousand  marks. 

This  degradation  of  the  kingdom  enraged  the  barons,  who 
were  already  indignant  at  John's  disregard  of  their  rights. 
Langton  was  a'  true  Englishman,  and  faithful  to  his  high 
office  as  advocate  of  the  people.  He  called  a  council  of 
barons  and  bishops,  to  whom  he  showed  a  lately  found  copy 
of  the  Charter  of  Henry  I.  (§  115),  and  urged  them  to  insist 
upon  its  renewal  and  enforcement.  The  barons  mustered 
their  forces,  and  proceeded  to  make  war  upon  the  King. 
John,  deserted  by  all  his  retainers,  excepting  seven  knights, 
was  compelled  to  grant  all  that  his  great  vassals  demanded. 

144.  At  Runnimede,  on  the  Thames,  the  two  parties  met 
in  conference;  and  the  result  of  the  meeting  was  the  King's 
sirains;  of  Magna  Charta,  the  foundation  of 

;       .  .  .  J«Be,  1215. 

English  constitutional  liberty.  Clergy,  barons, 
and  people  were  alike  secured  in  their  rights  of  person  and 
property.  Taxes  were  not  to  be  levied  without  the  consent 
of  the  Great  Council.  No  person  should  be  seized  or  im- 
prisoned, or  outlawed  or  exiled,  or  in  any  way  brought  to 
ruin  .  .  .  save  by  lawful  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  by  the  law 
of  the  land.  "We  will  sell  to  no  man,  we  will  not  deny  or 
delay  to  any  man,  justice  or  right."    The  poor  man,  even  if 


8o  FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


Extracts  from  Magna  Charta. 


convicted  of  crime,  could  not  be  deprived  of  his  tenement, 
the  merchant  of  his  goods,  or  the  peasant  of  his  wagon. 
Twenty-four  barons  were  charged  with  enforcing  upon  the 


A.  D.  1216.] 


DEATH  OF  JOHN. 


81 


King  the  fulfillment  of  his  solemn  oath.  "They  have  given 
me  four  and  twenty  over-kings ! "  cried  John,  in  a  rage,  as 
he  threw  himself  on  the  floor,  and  gnawed  like  a  wild  beast 
at  whatever  came  within  his  reach. 

145.  But  he  had  promised  the  more  readily  because  he 
did  not  intend  to  perform.  His  agents  were  already  enlisting 
troops  on  the  Continent ;  and  a  special  envoy  now  laid  before 
the  Pope  a  copy  of  the  Great  Charter,  which,  John  main- 
tained, had  been  wrested  from  him  by  violence.  Innocent 
III.,  regarding  himself  as  the  real  sovereign  of  England,  de- 
clared that  his  rights  were  invaded.  He  annulled  the  Charter, 
and  suspended  the  primacy  of  Langton  for  his  faithful  exer- 
cise of  its  duties. 

146.  Strengthened  by  the  Pope's  bull,  and  still  more  by 
his  army  of  Brabanters,  King  John  broke  all  his  promises; 
and,  marching  from  south  to  north,  laid  waste  his  kingdom 
with  fire  and  sword.  The  barons,  who  seem  to  have  been 
inactive  at  the  most  critical  moment,  now  took  a  desperate 
and  unwarrantable  step.  They  offered  the  crown  to  Prince 
Louis,  son  of  the  French  King,  who  came  over  in  A.  D. 
1 2 16,  with  a  large  army,  took  Rochester  Castle,  and  made  a 
triumphal  entry  into  London.  The  battle  for  which  John 
was  preparing  never  took  place.  Overcome  by  sickness, 
shame,  and  vexation,  he  died  at  Newark  in  the  eighteenth 
year  of  his  reign. 

147.  It  is  singular  that  the  wickedness  of  John  should  have 
been  the  source  of  two  great  benefits  to  his  people.  Magna 
Charta  has  already  been  mentioned.  The  loss  of  the  French 
provinces  was  also  a  piece  of  good  fortune  to  England;  for 
her  kings,  having  no  foreign  dominions,  found  their  motives 
to  ambition  at  home. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Richard  I.  neglects  his  kingdom  ;  permits  a  persecution  of  the  Jews; 
sells  lands,  offices,  and  his  over-lordship  of  Scotland,  to  raise  means 


82 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


for  his  Crusade;  spends  winter  in  Sicily;  quarrels  with  King  of 
France ;  conquers  Cyprus ;  gains  great  advantages  for  Christians  in 
the  Holy  Land;  becomes  prisoner  in  Austria  on  his  return;  is  ran- 
somed by  order  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Diet ;  dies  in  France. 

John  obtains  the  English  crown;  murders  his  nephew;  loses  his 
French  dominions;  quarrels  with  the  Pope  about  the  archbishopric 
of  Canterbury  ;  is  excommunicated,  and  his  kingdom  placed  under  an 
interdict.  Surrenders  England  to  the  Pope.  Is  forced  by  the  barons 
to  sign  the  Great  Charter  of  English  liberties.  Attempts  to  evade 
it ;  hires  foreign  soldiers  and  makes  war  against  his  own  kingdom. 
Louis  of  France  invades  the  kingdom  by  invitation  of  the  barons. 
John  dies  at  Newark. 


Translation  of  Extracts  from  Magna  Charta. 

"  John,  by  the  grace  of  God  King  of  England,  Lord  of  Ireland, 
Duke  of  Normandy  and  Aquitaine,  Count  of  Anjou, —  to  the  Arch- 
bishops, Bishops,  Abbots,  Counts,  Barons,  Justiciaries,  Foresters, 
Praepostors,  Ministers,  and  to  all  Bailiffs  and  his  faithful  [subjects] 
greeting  : 

 "No  free  man  shall  be  taken  or  imprisoned  or  disseized  or  out- 
lawed or  exiled  or  any  otherwise  destroyed ;  nor  will  we  pass  upon 
him,  nor  send  upon  him,  unless  by  the  legal  judgment  of  his  peers, 

or  by  the  law  of  the  land.  

"Given  by  our  hand  in  the  meadow  which  is  called  Runingmede, 
between  Windsor  and  Stanes,  the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  in  the  seven- 
teenth year  of  our  reign. 


Descent  from  Henry  II.    (See  p.  69.) 

Henry  II.  m.  Eleanor  of  Poitou  and  Aquitaine.    #  123. 

 I  _ 

I  I  I  I 

Henry  d.  1183.  Richard  I.  Geoffrey,   g  141.  John. 

I   I  

Arthur.  j  \ 

Henry  III.         Richard,  Earl  of 
I  Cornwall.    §  151. 

Edward  I. 
I 

Edward  II.    g  174. 
I 

Edward  III.    (Seep.  119. 1 


V.  REIGN  OF  HENRY  III. 


fJENRY  III.  (A.  D.  1216-1272),  John's 
§J§  son  and  heir,  was  only  nine  years 
old.  The  real  power,  therefore, 
rested  in  the  hands  of  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  a  brave,  able,  and  up- 
right man,  who  was  chosen  Pro- 
tector of  the  Realm.  His  first  act 
was  the  renewal  of  Magna  Charta, 
which  John  had  violated.  He  then, 
with  a  few  hundred  knights,  defeated 
the  French  forces  at  Lincoln;  and 
Prince  Louis,  finding  the  hearts  of 
the  English  now  turning  to  their 
rightful  king,  left  the  country  never 
to  return. 

149.  Upon  Pembroke's  death,  the 
chief  power  passed  to  Hubert  de 
Burgh,  a  brave  and  faithful  officer, 
whose  defense  of  Dover  Straits  and 
Castle  had  mainly  contributed  to 
defeat  the  French  invasion.  He 
was  succeeded  in  the  government  of  king  and  kingdom  by 
the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  a  native  of  Poitou,  whose  extor- 
tions had  occasioned  many  of  the  miseries  of  the  reign  of 
John.  By  his  advice,  the  young  King  invited  into  England 
a  multitude  of  Poitevins,  whom  he  intrusted  with  all  impor- 
tant positions  in  the  court,  and  loaded  with  honors  and 
wealth. 


Henry  III.  at  Evesham. 


150.  Henry  married  Eleanor  of  Provence, — a  country  now 
included  in  southern  France,  then  noted  for  wealth,  luxury, 

(83) 


84 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND, 


[A.  D.  1236. 


and  the  gay  and  brilliant  genius  of  its  people.  The  young 
Queen  was  accompanied  by  a  crowd  of  Provencal  courtiers ; 
and  the  marked  indulgence  shown  them  by  the  King,  in- 
creased the  displeasure  of  the  English.  A  greater  grievance 
was  found  in  the  exactions  of  the  Italian  clergy,  who  drew  a 
greater  revenue  from  England  than  the  King  himself.  The 
Pope  claimed  the  entire  income  of  all  vacant  livings;  one- 
twentieth  from  those  which  were  occupied;  one-third  from 
all  that  exceeded  one  hundred  marks  a  year;  and  one-half 
from  those  which  were  held  by  non-residents. 

151.  He  practiced  upon  the  weakness  of  King  Henry  by 
bestowing  the  crown  of  Sicily  upon  his  second  son, —  a  gift 
which  only  involved  the  King  in  an  enormous  debt,  as  well 
as  in  ridicule  and  disgrace.  The  Sicilian  kingdom  was  an- 
other of  the  "fiefs  of  St.  Peter "  (§§  85,  143),  which  the 
Pope  assumed  the  right  to  give  away  at  his  pleasure.  The 
King's  brother  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  also  wished  to 
play  a  part  in  Continental  affairs.  His  great  wealth,  drawn 
from  the  tin  mines  of  his  earldom,  led  the  German  princes 
to  choose  him  for  their  sovereign;  but  as  he  was  never 
crowned  at  Rome,  he  gained  nothing  but  the  empty  title  of 
Emperor-elect,  or  King  of  the  Romans,  in  exchange  for  all 
his  treasures. 

152.  King  Henry's  extortions,  and  his  slavery  to  foreign 
favorites,  disgusted  his  brave  barons.  Several  times  he  was 
made  to  renew  the  Great  Charter,  and  to  pronounce  the 
most  direful  curses  upon  whomsoever  should  dare  to  infringe 
it :  but  scarcely  had  the  awful  words  died  away  among  the 
arches  of  Westminster  Hall,  when  every  promise  was  broken. 
Chief  of  the  French  courtiers  was  Simon  de  Montfort,  whom 
the  King  had  made  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  honored  with  the 
hand  of  his  own  sister.  But,  unlike  his  countrymen,  Earl 
Simon  faithfully  served  the  people  among  whom  he  dwelt, 
and  was  rewarded  by  their  enthusiastic  love.  He  was  the 
powerful  ally  of  the  best  English  bishop  at  that  time, — 


A.  D.  1272.]     RISE  OF  THE  PARLIAMENT. 


85 


Grosseteste  of  Lincoln,  —  in  his  opposition  to  the  unjust  de- 
mands of  Rome. 

153.  In  1257,  a  terrible  famine  visited  England.  King 
Richard  (§  151)  sent  over  a  supply  of  corn  from  Germany  1 
for  the  relief  of  the  people ;  but  King  Henry  seized  and  sold 
it  for  his  own  advantage.    This  enraged  the  barons,  who  met 
in  arms  at  Oxford,  and  insisted  upon  a  Council 

A.  D.  1258. 

of  Regency,  to  be  chosen  half  by  the  King  and 
half  by  themselves.  Parliament  was  ordered  to  meet  three 
times  every  year,  whether  summoned  by  the  King  or  not; 
and  "twelve  honest  men"  were  to  represent  the  commonalty. 
But  the  barons  were  soon  divided;  many,  seeking  honors 
and  lands,  joined  the  royal  party*  The  more  patriotic,  with 
all  the  representatives  of  the  people,  stood  by  Earl  Simon, 
who,  with  a  reinforcement  of  15,000  Londoners,  gained  a 
great  victory  at  Lewes,  in  Sussex.  The  King  and  his  son 
were  prisoners. 

154.  The  Earl  of  Leicester,  now  really  at  the  head  of  the 
realm,  summoned  a  parliament  in  the  King's  name,  to  be 
composed  of  two  citizens  from  each  borough,  and 

1  .......  Jan.,  126s; 

two  knights  from  each  shire,  m  addition  to  the 
bishops  and  nobles.  This  was  a  great  event;  for  it  was  the 
first  meeting  of  the  English  Commons  according  to  their 
present  constitution.  But  the  people's  triumph  was  soon 
over-clouded  by  the  death  of  their  great  leader.  Prince 
Edward  escaped,  and  raised  an  army  which  defeated  the 
patriot  forces  at  Evesham.  Earl  Simon  and  his  eldest  son 
were  slain. 

155.  No  sooner  was  the  civil  war  at  an  end  than  Prince 
Edward,  with  a  gallant  array  of  barons,  set  sail  for  the  Holy 
Land,  to  take  part  in  the  Eighth  Crusade.  The  name  of 
Plantagenet,  and  traditions  of  the  brave  deeds  of  King 
Richard,  drew  about  him  all  the  Christian  forces  in  the  East, 
and  several  victories  were  won.  On  his  return,  he  heard  in 
Sicily  of  his  father's  death. 


86 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


156.  Across  the  dark  and  turbulent  age  of  Henry  III.,  a 
steady  light  begins  to  shine  from  the  University  of  Oxford. 
Schools  had  existed  there  even  before  the  time  of  Alfred  the 
Great ;  but  the  spirit  of  inquiry  excited  by  the  Crusades,  with 
the  new  knowledge  brought  home  from  the  East,  had  occa- 
sioned a  great  revival  of  zeal  for  the  study  of  law,  philosophy, 
and  ancient  literature.  In  our  day,  when  knowledge  and  the 
means  of  instruction  are  so  widely  diffused,  we  have  nothing 
like  the  great  universities  of  the  Middle  Ages,  where  30,000 
scholars,  traveling  far  over  land  and  sea,  were  often  assembled 
at  one  time  about  some  famous  teacher. 

157.  Such  a  teacher  was  Roger  Bacon,  whose  wonderful 
mind  was  stored  with  all  the  learning  of  his  age  concerning 
the  material  world,  as  well  as  the  mind  and  works  of  man. 
His  lectures  at  Oxford  were  thronged  by  eager  listeners, 
many  of  whom  begged  their  daily  bread,  while  others,  like 
their  teacher,  had  spent  ample  fortunes  upon  books  and 
costly  experiments,  abandoning  all  ambition  of  honor  or 
wealth,  in  search  of  the  dearer  prize  of  wisdom.  Bacon  was 
the  father  of  English  science.  His  physical  researches  antic- 
ipated many  modern  discoveries;  among  others,  the  use  of 
gunpowder  in  war. 

158.  But  Bacon,  like  Dunstan  (§  55),  proved  the  peril  of 
great  learning  in  an  ignorant  age.  Whatever  might  be  the 
admiring  reverence  of  his  pupils,  his  ecclesiastical  superiors 
saw  in  his  geometrical  lines  and  circles  only  charms  to  compel 
the  attendance  of  evil  spirits ;  and  heard  the  language  of  those 
spirits  in  the  Greek,  Hebrew,  or  Arabic  sentences  which  he 
repeated  in  his  studious  hours.    He  was  condemned  by  the 

council  of  his  own  Franciscan  Order,  and  spent 

A.  D.  1278-1289.  v     .  . 

the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years  of  his  life  m  a  gloomy 
dungeon,  robbed  of  his  beloved  books,  and  deprived  even  of 
pens  and  parchment. 

159.  And  yet  we  may  find  something  to  admire  in  the  rise 
of  the  Franciscans  and  their  brethren  the  Dominicans, — the 


FRANCISCANS  AT  OXFORD. 


87 


"Mendicant  Orders,"  as  drey  were  called.  The  monks  in 
their  stately  abbeys,  surrounded  by  broad  lands,  had  grown 
rich  and  lazy,  neglecting  the  poor  people,  for  the  care  of 
whose  souls  these  great  endowments  had  been  made.  To 
remedy  the  evil,  the  "Begging  Friars"  bound  themselves  to 
absolute  poverty  and  the  service  of  the  poor.  They  owned 
nothing;  they  lived  by  daily  alms,  and  dwelt  in  the  most 
squalid  quarters  of  the  cities,  where  they  warred  bravely 
against  the  diseases  which  sprang  from  poverty  and  unclean- 
liness,  acting  as  physicians  and  nurses  not  less  than  as  priests. 
During  the  civil  war  of  Henry  the  Third's  reign,  they  were 
the  steady  friends  of  the  people.  Though  at  first  they  abjured 
learning,  they  soon  had  control  of  the  University  of  Oxford, 
which  became  the  firm  opponent  of  papal  exactions  and  the 
stronghold  of  English  freedom. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Influence" of  foreigners  during  reign  of  Henry  III.  His  marriage 
with  Eleanor  of  Provence.  Immense  revenues  paid  to  Rome.  Waste 
of  English  treasure  in  wars  for  Sicily  and  the  Empire.  "  Curse  of  the 
Charter  Breakers."  Simon  of  Leicester  becomes  champion  of  the  peo- 
ple. By  Provisions  of  Oxford,  a  Council  of  Regency  assumes  control 
of  the  kingdom.  Victory  of  Leicester  at  Lewes.  First  English  Par- 
liament assembles.  Defeat  and  death  of  Earl  Simon  at  Evesham. 
Crusade  of  Prince  Edward.  Roger  Bacon  at  Oxford.  Rise  of  the 
Mendicant  Orders. 


VI.   REIGN  OF  EDWARD  I. 


|AVING  no  dominions  on  the  Con- 
tinent except  Guienne,  his  great- 
grandmother's  inheritance  (§  123), 
the  chief  ambition  of  King  Ed- 
ward (A.  D.  1272-1307)  was  to 
rule  the  whole  island  of  Great 
Britain.  By  successive  victories 
over  their  native  princes,  he 
ended  the  long  struggle  with  the 
Welsh,  whom  for  eight  hundred 
years  Saxons  and  Normans  had 
vainly  tried  to  subdue.  In  a 
conference  with  their  chiefs  at 
Rhuddlan,  he  promised  to  give 
them  a  ruler  born  in  their  own 
land,  and  who  could  not  speak 
a  word  of  either  French  or  Eng- 
lish. But  when  this  redoubtable 
Prince  was  introduced,  he  was 
found  to  be  the  King's  own  son, 
who  had  been  born  in  Rhuddlan  Castle  only  the  day  before ! 
By  the  death  of  his  elder  brother,  little  Edward  became  heir 
to  the  English  crown;  and  ever4  since,  the  eldest  son  of  the 
sovereign  has  been  called  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

161.  King  Edward's  strong  hand  soon  put  an  end  to  the 
robberies  which  had  become  disgracefully  frequent  during  his 
father's  weak  reign.  But  his  chief  severity  fell  upon  the  Jews. 
A  common  crime,  in  that  disorderly  and  corrupt  time,  was 
"clipping  the  coin";  and  it  was  convenient  to  assume  that 
the  Jews  had  a  principal  share  in  this  transaction.    In  London 

(SS) 


Monk  and  Soldier. 


A.  D.  1292.]       EDWARD  I.  IN  SCOTLAND. 


89 


alone,  280  of  these  unfortunate  people  were  hanged.  Eight 
years  later,  all  the  Jews  in  England  were  ordered  to  be  thrown 
into  prison,  and  kept  there  until  they  had  paid  a  heavy  ran- 
som. At  length,  for  no  apparent  cause,  the  whole  Hebrew 
population,  numbering  more  than  16,000,  were  forced  to  leave 
the  kingdom.  They  were  permitted,  indeed,  to  take  their 
money  and  jewels ;  but  these  treasures  increased  their  perils ; 
for  very  many  were  murdered  by  sailors  and  others  in  their 
passage  over  the  seas.  In  those  days  of  bigotry,  a  crime 
against  a  Jew  was  regarded  by  many  as  no  crime  at  all. 
The  King,  however,  was  more  just,  and  ordered  the  offenders 
to  be  hung  whenever  they  could  be  convicted. 

162.  The  affairs  of  Scotland  absorbed  a  large  share  of  Ed- 
ward's attention.  His  sister  had  been  the  wife  of  the  Scotch 
King,  Alexander  III.,  who,  dying  in  A.  D.  1286,  left  only 
one  descendant,  his  little  granddaughter,  Margaret  of  Norway, 
now  three  years  old.  This  young  lady  was  acknowledged  as 
Queen  of  Scotland,  and  was  soon  afterward  betrothed  to 
Edward,  Prince  of  Wales.  This  marriage  might  have  pre- 
vented three  centuries  of  bitter  strife  between  the  two  king- 
doms ;  but  the  Maid  of  Norway  died  on  one  of  the  Orkneys, 
from  the  fatigue  of  her  rough  voyage;  and  the  Scottish  Par- 
liament, unable  to  choose  among  all  the  competitors  to  the 
crown,  referred  the  decision  to  the  King  of  England. 

163.  Attended  by  a  great  army,  Edward  met  the  Parlia- 
ment and  all  the  rival  claimants,  at  Norham  on  the  Tweed; 
and  having  them  in  his  power,  declared  that  he  should  ap- 
point a  king  of  Scotland,  not  as  an  umpire  freely  chosen,  but 
as  lord-paramount  of  the  kingdom.  This  sovereignty,  which 
belonged  to  earlier  English  kings,  had  been  freely  surrendered 
by  Richard  L,  for  himself  and  his  successors  (§§  131,  136). 
The  Scots  had  no  choice  but  to  submit ;  and  upon  his  promise 
of  feudal  homage  to  Edward,  John  Baliol  received  the  crown. 
His  kingship  proved  to  be  little  more  than  a  name.  Six 
times,  on  trifling  pretexts,  Baliol  was  summoned  to  London, 


90  FEUDAL  ENGLAND.  [A.  D.  1292. 

to  appear  before  the  English  Parliament.  The  apparent  de- 
sign was  to  vex  him  into  a  rebellion,  and  then  confiscate  his 
kingdom  as  a  punishment. 

164.  At  last,  even  Baliol's  spiritless  nature  was  roused  to 
resistance;  40,000  Scots  made  a  sudden  raid  into  Cumber- 
land. Edward  was  ready;  and,  having  repulsed  them  at 
Carlisle,  drove  them  into  Berwick,  which  he  besieged  by  sea 
and  land.  The  town  was  taken,  and  Edward  entered  its  walls 
at  the  head  of  the  assaulting  column.  For  two  days  a  fright- 
ful slaughter  went  on  :  when  it  ceased,  it  was  only  because 
every  inhabitant  had  been  slain.  Dunbar  was  likewise  taken. 
Roxburgh,  Dumbarton,  and  Jedburgh  received  English  gar- 
risons ;  and  the  puppet  king  of  the  Scots,  appearing  in  peni- 
tential garments  before  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  confessed  his 
sins  against  his  sovereign  lord,  King  Edward,  and  resigned 
his  crown  absolutely  into  his  hands.  Believing  that  Scotland 
was  now  his  permanent  possession,  Edward  carried  off  to 
London  the  sacred  "  stone  of  Scone,"  on  which  Scottish 
kings  had  for  centuries  been  crowned. 

165.  A  quarrel  between  some  English  and  French  sailors 
grew  into  a  naval  war  between  the  two  countries,  which 
greatly  encouraged  the  Scots,  and  led  to  that  close  alliance 
which  for  centuries  united  France  and  Scotland  in  common 
enmity  to  England.  As  Duke  of  Guienne  (§  t6o),  Edward 
was  vassal  of  the  French  King,  who  delighted  to  treat  him 
in  much  the  same  manner  in  which  Edward  treated  Baliol. 
He  was  summoned  to  appear  at  Paris,  and  answer  for  the 
misconduct  of  his  subjects;  and  upon  some  slight  and  dis- 
honorable pretext,  Guienne  was  declared  to  be  forfeited  and 
annexed  to  the  French  crown.  Edward  now  made  close 
alliance  with  the  Count  of  Flanders,  another  powerful  vassal 
of  King  Philip,  whose  country  was  to  France  very  much 
what  Scotland  then  was  to  England,  —  a  thorn  in  the  side, 
which  an  enemy  could  at  any  time  make  use  of  to  irritate 
and  injure. 


A.  D.  I297-]  WALLACE  LN  SCOTLAND. 


91 


166.  Edward's  wars  on  the  Continent  were  disastrous. 
The  only  bright  side  of  their  history  is  the  opportunity  which 
the  English  people  found,  in  their  King's  necessities,  to  secure 
their  rights.  War  is  the  costliest  game  that  kings  can  play  at ; 
and  it  was  now  well  understood  that  by  holding  the  purse- 
strings,  the  people  had  a  check  upon  their  rulers.  Edward's 
demand  for  money  was  answered  by  a  demand  for  the  re- 
newal of  the  Charters,  with  an  additional  clause,  4  4  that  no 
tallage  or  aid  should  be  levied  without  the  assent  of  the 
peers  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  the  knights,  burgesses,  and 
other  freemen  in  Parliament  assembled."  The  King's  signature 
to  this  document,  though  most  unwillingly  granted,  made  it 
forever  illegal  for  an  English  sovereign  to  levy  any  tax  upon 
his  people  without  their  own  consent,  through  their  lawfully 
chosen  representatives. 

167.  The  Parliament  willingly  voted  a  large  subsidy  as  the 
price  of  this  concession,  and  Edward  was  able  to  make  peace 
with  the  King  of  France.  To  render  the  friendship  more 
cordial,  Edward,  now  a  widower,  married  a  sister  of  King 
Philip;  and  his  son,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  a  daughter  of  the 
same  sovereign.  This  last  marriage  involved  England  in 
centuries  of  war. 

168.  Scotland,  meanwhile,  found  a  brave  defender  in 
William  Wallace,  probably  a  native  of  Strathclyde,  a  gentle- 
man of  no  high  rank,  but  distinguished  by  extraordinary 
patience  and  determination,  not  less  than  by  his  wonderful 
strength.  The  great  nobles  mostly  held  themselves  aloof,  or 
gave  him  very  feeble  support;  but  the  common  people  re- 
garded him  as  their  hero  and  deliverer.  Indeed,  we  must 
remember  that  the  nobles  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  those  of 
England,  were  usually  of  Norman  birth,  and  cared  little  for 
the  country  or  the  people  where  their  estates  lay.  Baliol  did 
homage  to  King  Edward  for  lands  in  France  and  England, 
as  well  as  in  Scotland;  and  the  true  Scots  of  the  Highlands 
preferred  the  English  King  to  either  Baliol  or  Bruce. 


93 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND.  [A.  D.  1297. 


Secretly  gathering  about  him  a  desperate  band  of  outlaws, 
Wallace  attacked  the  English  with  a  success  which  raised  the 
courage  of  the  Scots,  while  it  struck  terror  into  the  enemy. 

Earl  Warrenne,  whom  Edward  had  left  as  Guar- 
ePc,  1297.  ^  Scotland,  was  defeated  with  great  slaughter 

at  Cambuskenneth,  near  Stirling,  and  Wallace  ravaged  all  the 
northern  counties  of  England. 

Enraged  at  this  new  outbreak  of  spirit  in  the  Scots,  Edward 
crossed  the  sea  with  a  great  train  of  knights  and  archers,  to 
which  he  added  the  forces  of  England,  Ireland,  and  Wales. 
In  a  battle  near  Falkirk,  the  Scottish  army  was  defeated, 
scattered,  and  almost  annihilated.  But  want  of  food  forced 
Edward  to  retire;  and,  in  1303,  the  Scots  were  again  in  the 
field,  led  by  Earl  Comyn,  son-in-law  of  Baliol. 

169.  This  time  the  English  King  was  invincible.  A  great 
fleet  laden  with  provisions  sailed  along  the  coast,  nearly 
abreast  of  his  land  army.  Edward  marched  victoriously 
from  the  south  to  the  north  of  Scotland,  reducing  all  the 
castles,  and  forcing  all  the  chiefs  to  do  him  homage.  Wal- 
lace was  betrayed  into  his  hands;  and  with  a  cruelty  which 
disgraces  the  memory  of  Edward,  was  carried  in  chains  to 
London,  tried,  condemned,  and  executed  for  treason  against 
a  king  whom  he  had  never  acknowledged  as  his  sovereign. 

170.  Robert  Bruce,  a  claimant  of  the  Scottish  throne,  lived 
at  Edward's  court,  petted  and  favored,  but  closely  watched. 
A  friend  sent  him  a  purse  and  a  pair  of  spurs.  He  under- 
stood the  warning,  and  lost  no  time  in  reaching  the  Scottish 
frontier.  Here  he  invited  Comyn  to  a  meeting :  a  quarrel 
ensued;  and  Bruce,  drawing  his  dagger,  stabbed  Comyn 
where  he  stood,  before  the  high  altar  of  the  church  at  Dum- 
fries. Then  hastening  to  Scone,  he  was  crowned  in  the 
Abbey  which  had  witnessed  the  consecration  of  so  many 
Scottish  kings;  and  published  a  defiance  to  King  Edward, 
no  longer  as  Bruce  of  Annandale,  but  as  King  Robert  I. 
of  Scotland. 


A.  D.  1307.]  DEATH  OF  EDWARD  L 


93 


171.  The  people  rose  bravely  at  his  call,  and  drove  the 
English  from  all  but  a  few  of  the  strongest  castles.  Edward 
saw  that  he  must  begin  again  his  great  work  of  conquering 
Scotland.  His  advance  army  did,  indeed,  defeat  Bruce  at 
Methven,  and  force  him  to  take  refuge  in  the  Western  Isles. 
But  King  Edward,  who  was  following  with  a  great  army, 
was  overcome  by  illness  near  Carlisle,  and  died  at  Burgh-on- 
the-sands,  with  his  latest  breath  enjoining  his  son  never  to 
rest  until  he  had  conquered  Scotland. 

Kings  had .  not  yet  been  designated  by  numbers  added  to 
their  names.  Edward's  father  was  known  to  his  own  times 
as  Henry  of  Winchester;  he  himself  received  from  his  ene- 
mies in  Berwick  the  name  of  "  Longshanks,"  which  clings 
to  him  still.  But  he  was  a  man  of  majestic  appearance,  not 
less  than  of  distinguished  mental  power  and  of  truly  kingly 
generosity.  He  was  a  wise  lawgiver ;  and  under  his  care  the 
administration  of  justice  in  England  became  far  more  regular 
and  secure. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Edward  I.  concentrates  his  energies  within  the  British  Isles.  Con- 
quers the  Welsh,  and  makes  his  infant  son  their  prince  ;  puts  down 
robbers ;  persecutes  and  expels  the  Jews.  Death  of  the  infant  Queen 
of  Scots.  Edward,  as  over-lord,  confers  the  crown  on  John  Baliol. 
Upon  his  refusal  of  homage,  Berwick  is  taken  and  its  people  massa- 
cred. Alliance  of  Scotland  with  France ;  Flanders  with  England. 
Increased  power  of  the  Commons.  Peace  and  alliance  between  Eng- 
land and  France  confirmed  by  two  marriages.  Wallace  becomes 
champion  of  the  Scots  ;  gains  victory  at  Cambuskenneth,  but  is  de- 
feated at  Falkirk ;  is  captured  and  put  to  death.  Robert  Bruce  es- 
capes from  Edward's  court ;  murders  Comyn  ;  is  crowned  King  of 
Scots.    King  Edward  dies  on  his  march  into  Scotland. 


VII.   EDWARD  II.  AND  EDWARD  III. 


[DWARD  II.  (A.  D.  1307-1327)  was 
a  weak  prince,  the  slave  of  worth- 
less favorites,  and  wholly  the  oppo- 
site of  his  great  father.  He  had 
marched  but  a  little  way  into  Scot- 
land, when  he  suddenly  ordered  a 
retreat  and  disbanded  his  forces. 
His  first  favorite  was  Piers  Gaves- 
ton,  a  French  nobleman,  whom  he 
loaded  with  honors,  riches,  and 
lands.  Piers  married  the  King's 
niece,  and  was  even  intrusted  with 
the  regency  during  Edward's  ab- 
sence in  France.  It  mattered  little, 
indeed,  whether  the  King  was  pres- 
ent or  absent :  Gaveston  ruled  the 
land.  The  English  notfles  were  en- 
raged by  the  insolence  of  this  alien, 
their  inferior  in  rank,  and  they  de- 
manded his  banishment.  The  King 
turned  this  punishment  into  a  pro- 
motion, by  appointing  him  Lord- 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  soon 
Edward's  conduct  was  now  more 
foolish  and  Gaveston's  more  insolent  than  ever;  so  that,  in 
13 13,  he  was  banished  to  Flanders,  and  a  crowd  of  foreigners 
were  deprived  of  their  salaries  and  honors.  Returning  by 
the  King's  invitation,  Gaveston  was  captured  and  beheaded 
by  the  barons. 

173.  The  Scots  had  taken  advantage  of  England's  humilia- 
tion to  establish  their  own  king,  Robert  Bruce.    An  English 
(94) 


Castle  on  the  Border. 


afterward  recalled  him. 


A.  D.  1330.]      SCOTTISH  INDEPENDENCE, 


95 


army  of  100,000  men  was  defeated,  at  Bannockburn,  in  1314, 
by  only  30,000  Scots,  —  a  great  event,  for  it  secured  the  inde- 
pendence of  Scotland. 

Edward's  next  favorite  was  Hugh  Despenser,  a  young  man 
whose  father  was  deservedly  honored  for  his  wisdom,  valor, 
and  fidelity  in  many  high  offices.  The  barons,  however, 
would  not  have  another  rival :  they  made  war  against  the 
two  Despensers,  and  extorted  from  Parliament  a  sentence 
of  perpetual  exile  against  both.  The  King,  with  unusual 
spirit,  raised  an  army  and  defeated  the  Earl  of  Lancaster, 
his  cousin,  who  was  leader  of  the  barons.  The  Earl  was 
captured  and  beheaded  for  his  rebellion. 

174.  Queen  Isabella,  who  had  gone  to  Paris  to  arrange 
some  difficulties  between  her  brother  (§  167)  and  her  hus- 
band, now  drew  around  her  the  English  malcontents  and 
made  open  war  against  the  latter.  Landing  with  an  army 
in  Suffolk,  she  was  joined  by  several  powerful  barons,  and 
the  King  fled  into  Wales.  The  two  Despensers  were  put  to 
death :  the  King  was  taken  and  imprisoned  in  Kenilworth 
Castle.  A  parliament  summoned  by  the  Queen'  declared  him 
unfit  to  rule ;  and  the  captive  King  was  made  to  resign  the 
crown  in  favor  of  his  son.  He  afterward  suffered  a  horrible 
death  by  the  order  of  his  unnatural  wife. 

175.  Prince  Edward  III.  (A.  D.  1327-1377),  now  fourteen 
years  of  age,  was  declared  king ;  but  the  real  power  rested 
with  his  mother  and  her  favorite,  young  Roger  Mortimer, 
who  soon  assumed  the  title  of  Earl  of  March.  They  made 
a  treaty  with  the  Scots,  acknowledging  the  independence  of 
the  Scottish  king  and  parliament,  and  betrothing  a  sister  of 
King  Edward  to  David  Bruce,  son  and  heir  of  King  Robert. 
But  Mortimer's  power  was  of  short  duration:  he  and  the 
queen-mother  were  arrested  in  Nottingham  Castle  by  the 
young  King  himself,  and  the  favorite  was  hanged  at  Tyburn. 

176.  England  was  now  in  grievous  disorder;  for  robbery 
and  all  forms  of  violence  had  increased  without  check,  under 


96 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1333. 


the  weakness  of  Edward  II.  and  the  crimes  of  Isabella. 
Edward  III.  set  himself  with  great  energy  to  restore  justice 
and  order,  and  put  down  many  gangs  of  robbers  by  his  own 
personal  presence.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  Scotland. 
Robert  Bruce  was  dead,  and  his  son  David  was  only  six  years 
old.  Edward  and  the  English  nobles  favored  the  pretensions 
of  a  son  of  John  Baliol,  who  was  actually  crowned  at  Scone, 
while  David  took  refuge  in  France.    Baliol  ceded 

A.  D.  1333.  fe  . 

the  fortresses  of  Berwick,  Dunbar,  Edinburgh, 
and  all  the  south-eastern  counties  of  Scotland,  to  become 
part  of  the  English  kingdom;  and  he,  with  many  Scottish 
nobles,  swore  fealty  to  Edward  III. 

177.  The  party  of  Bruce  were  encouraged  by  the  breaking 
out  of  a  war  between  England  and  France.  Upon  the  death 
of  Charles  IV.,  Edward  claimed  the  French  crown  in  right 
of  his  mother,  Isabella,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Philip  IV., 
and  a  sister  of  the  late  king.  Even  upon  his  own  rendering 
of  French  law,  there  was  a  nearer  heir  than  himself;  but 
Edward's  claim  being  supported  by  a  powerful  army,  brought 
much  misery  to  both  nations.  Philip  VI.  of  Valois  assumed 
the  crown,  being  the  nearest  heir  in  the  direct  male  line. 
Edward  had  powerful  adherents  in  Germany  and  in  Flan- 
ders. The  Emperor  appointed  him  Imperial  Vicar  in  the 
Low  Countries;  and  Jacques  van  Artevelde,  the  brewer  of 
Ghent,  who  was  now  leader  of  the  Flemings,  acknowledged 
him  as  King  of  France. 

178.  A  great  naval  battle  off  the  coast  of  Flanders  resulted 
in  victory  to  the  English.  But  his  unjust  wars  with  two 
kingdoms  had  used  up  Edward's  treasures.  The  clergy  and 
people  refused  more  taxes,  except  upon  the  concession  of 
greater  privileges;  and  he  was  compelled  to  make  peace 
with  the  King  of  France. 

A  disputed  succession  to  the  duchy  of  Brittany  drew 
him  again  into  French  affairs;  and,  accompanied  by  his 
eldest  son,  now  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  marched  with  hi? 


A.  D.  1347.] 


BATTLE  OF  CRECY. 


97 


army  almost  to  the  gates  of  Paris.  Pursued  by  King  Philip, 
he  retreated  to  the  Somme ;  and  here  was  fought  the  great 
battle  of  Crecy,  in  which  the  French,  though  three 
times  as  numerous  as  the  English,  were  thoroughly 
defeated.  The  new  invention  of  gunpowder  *  was  employed 
by  the  English,  for  the  first  time  in  any  great  European  bat- 
tle. The  front  ranks  of  the  French  were  thrown  into  confu- 
sion ;  and  Prince  Edward,  with  extraordinary  spirit,  led  a 
charge  right  into  the  disordered  mass.  His  father,  watching 
the  field  from  the  top  of  a  windmill,  refused  to  send  him  help, 
though  sorely  pressed.  "Let  the  child  win  his  spurs,"  he 
cried;  "and  let  the  day  be  his." 

179.  The  French  King  fought  with  great  valor,  but  with- 
out success.  His  whole  army  took  to  flight,  and  were  pur- 
sued and  slaughtered  without  mercy.  Among  the  slain  was 
the  blind  old  King  of  Bohemia,  a  singular  soldier  of  fortune, 
who  had  fought  on  most  of  the  battle-fields  of  Europe.  He 
had  ordered  his  horse  to  be  tied  to  those  of  two  gentlemen 
of  his  train,  who  rode  on  either  side.  All  three  knights  lay 
dead  together,  while  the  three  horses  stood  unhurt  beside 
them.  The  Prince  of  Wales  is  said  to  have  adopted  the  crest 
and  motto  of  the  dead  King :  his  successors  to  this  day  bear 
the  three  plumes  surmounting  the  proudly  humble  motto,  / 
serve.  The  hero  of  Crecy  was  ever  after  known  by  the  French 
as  the  Black  Prince,  from  the  armor  which  he  wore  on  that 
fatal  day. 

180.  King  Edward  marched  with  his  victorious  army  to 
besiege  the  seaport  of  Calais.    It  held  out  nearly 

i  .  .  y        A.  D.  1347. 

a  year,  through  the  resolution  of  its  citizens ;  but, 
at  length,  hunger  drove  them  to  surrender.    Edward,  impa- 
tient of  the  delays  had  ordered  a  general  massacre,  but  was 
prevailed  upon  to  accept  the  lives  of  six  chief  citizens  as 


*  It  was  derived  from  Asia,  and  had  been  used  by  the  Moors  of 
southern  Spain,  in  assaults  upon  walled  towns  some  years  before. 
Eng.— 9. 


98 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1347. 


ransom  for  the  rest.  Freely  offering  their  lives  for  the  rescue 
of  their  city,  the  six  brave  men  repaired  to  the  English  camp, 
and  were  ordered  to  instant  execution.  But  Queen  Philippa, 
who  had  just  arrived  from  England,  bringing  the  good  news 
of  the  capture  and  submission  of  the  King  of  Scotland,  * 
now  threw  herself  at  the  feet  of  her  husband,  and  demanded 
the  pardon  of  the  burgesses  as  the  reward  of  her  victory. 
It  was  granted :  the  good  Queen  entertained  them  joyfully 
in  her  tent,  and  sent  them  home  laden  with  gifts. 

181.  Calais  was  ordered  to  be  vacated  by  its  French  in- 
habitants, and  repeopled  by  English.  Its  prosperity  was  se- 
cured by  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  wool,  leather,  tin,  and 
lead,  which  were  then  almost  the  only  exports  from  England 
to  the  Continent.  The  port  of  Calais  was  for  two  centuries 
an  open  door  by  which  the  English  might  enter  France. 

A  great  plague,  called  the  "  Black  Death,"  beginning  in  the 
plains  of  western  Asia,  swept  over  Europe  during  the  years 
1348-135 1,  destroying  probably  one-third  of  the  whole  pop- 
ulation. This  fearful  scourge  silenced  for  a  time  the  conten- 
tions of  the  kings;  but  scarcely  was  it  removed,  when  war 
broke  out  again. 

182.  King  Edward,  in  1355,  crossed  into  northern  France, 
while  his  son  repaired  to  Guienne,  and  both  armies  covered 
the  unhappy  country  with  desolation.  The  next  year,  the 
Prince  penetrated  into  central  France,  and  at  Poitiers  gained 

over  King  John,  who  had  now  succeeded  his 

Sept.,  1356.  P.  J  \ 

father  Philip,  a  still  more  remarkable  victory  than 
that  of  Crecy.  The  French  King  and  his  youngest  son  were 
taken  prisoners,  and  were  treated  by  the  Black  Prince  with  a 
gentle  courtesy  which  went  far  to  soothe  their  wounded  pride. 

*  In  her  campaign  against  the  Scots,  Queen  Philippa  became  aware 
of  the  rich  deposits  of  coal  about  Newcastle  ;  and  perceiving  their 
immense  importance,  she  obtained  permission  from  Parliament  to 
open  the  mines.  The  coal  of  England  is,  directly  and  indirectly,  a 
chief  source  of  her  wealth. 


A.  D.  1360.] 


99 


Map  i. 


TjaAXCE  in  1360. 


King  John  remained  three  years  in  England ;  but,  at  length, 
a  peace  was  signed  at  Bretighy,  restoring  him  to  freedom 
upon  the  payment  of  three  millions  of  gold  crowns.  Edward, 
on  his  part,  renounced  all  claim  to  the  crown  of  France,  and 
to  the  provinces  of  Normandy,  Maine,  Touraine,  and  Anjou, 
receiving  in  return  almost  the  entire  region  south  of  the 
Loire,  which,  with  Guiehne,  became  ail  independent  sover- 
eignty for  the  heir  to  the  English  crown.  Edward  promised 
to  cease  meddling  with  the  Flemings,  and  John  with  the 


IOO 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1363. 


Scots.  Among  the  forty  hostages  for  the  execution  of  this 
treaty  were  two  of  the  French  princes.  They  violated  their 
parole ;  and  their  father,  indignant  at  this  breach  of  faith, 
returned  to  London,  where  he  died. 

183.  His  son  Charles  V.,  called  the  Wise,  from  the  prudence 
which  he  had  already  learned  in  the  hard  school  of  adversity, 
succeeded  to  the  French  throne.  He  slowly  but  steadily  re- 
trieved his  father's  losses,  crowding  the  English  out  of  all 
their  conquests,  except  Calais,  and  even  from  nearly  all  their 
ancient  possessions. 

AVhile  the  Black  Prince  was  holding  his  court  at  Bordeaux, 
he  was  called  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Castile,  one  of  the 
five  kingdoms  which  then  occupied  the  Spanish  peninsula. 
Pedro  the  Cruel  had  so  disgusted  his  people,  that  a  strong 
party,  aided  by  the  French,  succeeded  in  deposing  him,  and 
placing  his  half-brother,  Henry,  upon  the  throne.  Pedro 
appealed  to  Prince  Edward,  who  marched  into  Spain  and 
defeated  King  Henry  at  Najera.  All  Castile  submitted  and 
took  back  its  atrocious  king;  but  he  proved  a  worse  tyrant 
than  before.  Henry,  with  fresh  forces  from  France,  again 
dethroned  him,  and  murdered  the  tyrant  with  his  own  hand. 
John,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  *  brother  of  the  Black  Prince, 
married  a  daughter  of  Pedro,  and  asserted  a  claim  to  the 
Castilian  crown  in  her  name;  but  his  ambitious  schemes  oc- 
casioned more  trouble  in  England  than  in  Castile.     (§  189.) 

184.  The  Prince  of  Wales  never  recovered  from  his  Cas- 
tilian campaign.  Some  said  that  he  had  been  poisoned  by 
his  wicked  ally;  others,  that  the  fever  which  had  carried  off 
multitudes  of  his  troops,  had  undermined  his  constitution. 
He  died  in  1376;  and  his  father,  overcome  with  sorrow  and 

•  disasters,  followed  him  one  year  later.    This  en- 

ergetic reign  was  a  bright  period  in  English  an- 
nals. Though  Edward's  foreign  wars  were  unjust,  they  served 


*  He  is  more  commonly  called  "John  of  Gaunt,"  or  Ghent,  from 
the  place  of  his  birth  in  Flanders. 


PROGRESS  UNDER  EDWARD  IIL 


IOI 


to  occupy  the  turbulent  spirits  of  the  great  nobles  with  adven- 
tures suited  to  their  tastes,  and  left  England  at  peace.  The 
laws  were  well  administered,  and  the  common  people  enjoyed 
greater  prosperity  than  for  several  centuries  before  or  after. 
Flemish  weavers  were  invited  to  settle  in  England,  which 
soon  became  celebrated,  as  the  Netherlands  had  been,  for  its 
fine  manufactures  of  wool. 

185.  The  King's  urgent  need  of  money  for  his  wars  made 
him  dependent  upon  the  Parliament,  and  thus  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people  acquired  greater  dignity  and  power.  The 
loss  of  the  French  territories  (§  183)  was  the  people's  gain, 
for  the  feeling  of  nationality  now  grew  stronger  at  home. 
The  use  of  the  French  language  in  courts  of  law  was  abol- 
ished in  this  reign, 

RECAPITULATION. 

Edward  II.  offends  English  nobles  by  his  fondness  for  Piers  Gav- 
eston ;  is  defeated  by  Scots  at  Bannockburn ;  makes  war  with  the 
barons  in  behalf  of  his  new  favorite,  Despenser.  Earl  of  Lancaster 
is  beheaded.  Queen  Isabella  and  the  barons  kill  the  Despensers ; 
imprison  the  King;  take  from  him  his  crown  and  his  life. 

Edward  III.  becoming  king,  arrests  his  mother ;  hangs  Mortimer, 
her  favorite;  suppresses  disorders  in  his  kingdom;  claims  crown  of 
France  ;  is  victorious  off  Flanders  and  at  Crecy ;  captures  Calais,  and 
makes  it  a  seat  of  English  commerce.  War  interrupted  by  the  "  Black 
Death  " ;  recommences,  and  Prince  of  Wales  captures  King  John  of 
France,  at  Poitiers  ;  takes  part  in  wars  of  Spain  ;  dies  before  his  father. 
Flemish  weavers  introduce  wool  manufacture  into  England,  which  is 
prosperous  under  Edward  IIL 


VIII.   REIGN  OF  RICHARD  II. 


Two  Merchants. 


f^ICHARD  of  Bordeaux  (A.  D.  1377— 
1399),  son  of  the  Black  Prince, 
succeeded  to  his  grandfather's 
crown;  but  as  he  was  only  eleven 
years  old,  a  Council  of  Regency 
was  chosen  by  the  Parliament. 
The  people  idolized  their  hand- 
some young  King  as  they  had 
his  great  father,  and  his  early 
years  encouraged  their  hopes. 
A  formidable  sedition,  known 
as  Wat  Tyler's  Rebellion,  ex- 
cited by  the  insolence  of  the 
tax  gatherers,  spread  through 
many  counties,  and  threatened 
to  destroy  the  aristocracy,  if  not 
to  overturn  the  government  it- 
self. The  insurgents  burned  the  Duke  of  Lancaster's  palace; 
and,  breaking  into  the  Tower  of  London,  murdered  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  and  the  Treasurer.  The  King,  then 
sixteen  years  of  age,  rode  out  to  meet  them.  Wat  Tyler, 
their  leader,  came  boldly  forward,  and  in  his  talk  with 
Richard  behaved  so  rudely  that  one  of  the  King's  attendants 
struck  him  to  the  ground,  and  the  rest  dispatched  him  with 
their  swords. 

187.  Seeing  their  leader  fall,  the  mob  put  themselves  in 
motion  to  avenge  him;  but  the  young  King,  quitting  his 
companions,  rode  fearlessly  among  them,  crying  out,  "  What 
means  this  disorder,  my  good  people?  Are  ye  angry  that  ye 
have  lost  your  leader  ?  I  am  your  king ;  I  will  be  your 
leader."  Overawed  by  his  presence,  the  rioters  turned  at 
(102) 


A.  D.  1397.]        WAT  TYLER'S  REBELLION. 


once  and  followed  him  to  the  fields,  where  he  was  soon 
joined  by  a  body  of  veteran  troops.  He  forbade,  however, 
any  slaughter  of  the  insurgents ;  and  after  distributing  among 
them  copies  of  a  charter  promising  pardon  and  deliverance 
from  their  worst  grievances,  he  dismissed  them  peaceably  to 
their  homes. 

188.  Unhappily,  King  Richard  had  promised  more  than 
he  could  perform.  He  did,  indeed,  urge  Parliament  to 
emancipate  the  serfs;  but  Parliament  answered  that  his  char- 
ter of  liberties  was  null  and  void  :  serfs  were  the  property 
of  their  employers,  who  could  not  be  deprived  of  their  goods 
but  by  their  own  consent.  "  And  this  consent,"  added  the 
proud  landlords,  "we  have  never  given,  and  never  will  give, 
were  we  all  to  die  in  one  day." 

189.  The  French  war  still  went  on,  with  many  disasters 
to  the  English.  Their  immense  trade  with  Flanders  was  cut 
off  by  the  submission  of  Ghent  and  the  whole  country  to  a 
brother  of  Charles  V.  (§  183).  A  French  army  landed  in 
Scotland  and  threatened  to  invade  England ;  and  the  men 
and  means  which  Parliament  provided  for  the  common  de- 
fense, were  squandered  in  Spain  by  John  of  Gaunt,  who  was 
attempting,  in  his  wife's  name,  to  gain  the  Castilian  crown. 
The  Duke  of  Gloucester,  another  uncle  of  the  young  King, 
managed  to  vest  the  whole  sovereign  power  in  a  Council  of 
Regency,  with  himself  at  its  head.  Richard's  resistance  was 
put  down  by  force  of  arms ;  his  favorite  minister,  the  Duke 
of  Suffolk,  and  all  the  opponents  of  the  Council,  were  doomed 
to  exile  and  death. 

190.  Soon  after  coming  of  age,  the  King  took  the  sov- 
ereignty into  his  own  hands,  and  made  peace  with  France. 
The  Duke  of  Gloucester  was  imprisoned,  and  when  sum- 
moned to  trial,  was  found  dead  in  his  cell.  Pleased  with  the 
new  taste  of  power,  and  hating  opposition,  Richard  tried  to 
reign  without  a  parliament,  meeting  the  expenses  of  his  gov- 
ernment by  forced  loans.    The  good  and  bad  impulses  which 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1398. 


governed  him  were  alike  fatal  to  the  continuance  of  his  power. 
The  war-loving  barons  were  offended  by  the  peace;  the  land- 
owners, by  his  protection  of  the  serfs ;  the  merchants,  by  his 
demands  for  money ;  and  the  clergy,  by  the  favor  he  showed 
to  Wicliffe  and  the  new  freedom  of  religious  opinion.  Still 
more  disastrous  was  his  jealousy  of  his  cousin  Henry  of  Lan- 
caster, an  able  prince,  who  had  distinguished  himself  as  a 
good  soldier  and  zealous  Christian  by  fighting  against  the 
heathen  tribes  near  the  Baltic. 

191.  On  pretext  of  stopping  a  quarrel  in  which  Henry  was 
engaged,  the  King  banished  him ;  and  upon  the  death  of  John 
of  Gaunt,  seized  all  the  family  estates.  Thereupon,  the  new 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  sailing  from  France,  landed  with  a  few 
companions  at  Ravenspur,  in  Yorkshire,  and  was  joined  by 
several  powerful  nobles  who  were  disaffected  toward  Richard. 
His  army  in  a  few  days  numbered  60,000  men.  It  was  in- 
creased by  the  royal  forces,  which  the  King,  who  was  now 
in  Ireland,  had  left  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  York. 
Richard,  on  his  return,  was  deserted  by  his  followers,  sur- 
rounded by  the  rebel  troops,  and  immured  in  Flint  Castle. 

192.  Henry  had  constantly  declared  that  he  came  only  to 
take  possession  of  his  father's  estates,  which  were  his  by 
right ;  but  he  now  saw  the  crown  within  his  reach.  Bishops, 
nobles,  and  people,  offended  by  the  violation  of  their  several 
privileges  or  rights,  were  on  his  side.    Parliament,  with  great 

unanimity,  voted  the  deposition  of  Richard  and 
the  coronation  of  Henry.   The  deposed  King  died 
soon  afterward  in  his  dungeon ;  and  his  death  was  so  profita- 
ble to  his  successor,  that  he  was  universally  believed  to  have 
been  murdered. 

193.  Before  relating  the  history  of  the  three  Lancastrian 
kings,  we  will  glance  at  the  changes  in  religion,  language, 
literature,  and  social  habits  which  had  taken  place  under  the 
early  Plantagenets.  At  first,  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  were 
simply  slaves;  and  it  was  a  merciful  law  which  entitled  them 


A.  D.  1381.] 


SOCIAL  CONDITION. 


to  remain  all  their  lives  upon  the  land  where  they  were 
born.  Custom  gradually  secured  to  each  serf  his  little  hut 
and  garden-plot,  and  limited  the  amount  of  service  he  had  to 
render.  This  done,  his  remaining  hours  were  free ;  and  if 
by  additional  labor  he  became  the  owner  of  cattle,  he  was 
permitted  to  pasture  them  upon  the  waste  lands  of  his  lord's 
estate.  When  the  peasantry  became  too  numerous  to  find 
employment  in  tillage,  they  were  allowed  to  pay  rents  in 
money  instead  of  service ;  and  the  needs  of  the  great  nobles, 
during  the  wars  of  Edward  III.,  led  them  even  to  sell  free- 
dom to  many  of  those  families  which  had  served  themselves 
or  their  ancestors  for  centuries. 

194.  The  Black  Death  (§  181),  by  diminishing  the  number 
of  people,  doubled  the  price  of  labor;  and  when  the  great 
landlords,  through  their  enormous  influence  in  Parliament, 
tried  to  lower  wages  or  reduce  the  peasantry  to  serfage  again, 
the  latter  rose  in  revolt  (§186).  A  Kentish  priest,  named 
John  Ball,  boldly  set  forth  the  popular  grievances,  while  he 
mistook  their  true  cause  and  remedy  as  completely  as  any 
"Chartist"  or  "Communist"  of  our  time.  "Good  people," 
cried  he,  "things  will  never  go  well  in  England  so  long  as 
goods  be  not  in  common,  and  so  long  as  there  be  villains  and 
gentlemen.  By  what  right  are  they  whom  we  call  lords  greater 
folk  than  we?  Why  do  they  hold  us  in  serfage?  They  are 
clothed  in  velvet,  and  warm  in  their  furs,  while  we  are  cov- 
ered with  rags.  They  have  wine  and  spices  and  fair  bread, 
and  we  oat-cake  and  straw,  and  water  to  drink.  They  have 
leisure  and  fine  houses ;  we  have  pain  and  labor,  the  rain  and 
the  wind  in  the  fields.  And  yet  it  is  of  us  and  our  toil  that 
these  men  hold  their  state. — When  Adam  delved  and  Eve 
span,  where  was  then  the  gentleman?" 

195.  Deeper  than  this  worldly  discontent  was  the  new  re- 
ligious spirit  which  began  to  protest  against  abuses  in  the 
Church.  The  Mendicant  Friars  (§  159)  had  lost  the  gener- 
ous impulses  with  which  they  at  first  set  out,  and  had  become 


io6 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


a  burden  and  a  nuisance  to  the  people.  John  Wicliffe,  the 
greatest  Oxford  professor  of  his  time,  fearlessly  assailed  the 
greed  of  the  clergy,  their  sale  of  indulgences  for  sin,  and  the 
gift  of  church  benefices  to  foreign  priests,  ' '  who  neither  see 
nor  care  to  see  their  parishioners,  convey  away  the  treasure 
of  the  realm,  and  are  worse  than  Jews  or  Saracens.'7 

196.  Wicliffe,  like  Bacon  (§  157),  was  surrounded  by  a 
throng  of  eager  disciples,  —  earnest  young  men,  who,  scatter- 
ing to  their  humble  parishes,  diffused  throughout  England  the 
Gospel  which  Wicliffe  taught.  Their  enemies,  in  scorn,  called 
them  "  Lollards,"  or  babblers;  but  the  common  people  heard 
them  gladly.  Their  teacher,  himself  laying  aside  the  learned 
Latin  speech  of  the  University,  wrote  many  tracts  in  the 
rough,  strong  language  of  the  plowmen  and  mechanics  of  his 
day,  —  writings  which  are  the  earliest  specimens  of  English 
prose.  King  Richard's  first  wife,  Anne  of  Bohemia,  favored 
the  new  doctrines ;  and  many  of  her  countrymen,  who  came 
to  study  at  Oxford,  carried  Wicliffe' s  writings  thence  to  the 
University  of  Prague,  where  they  enkindled  a  wonderful  re- 
ligious movement.  For  Bohemia,  as  well  as  for  England, 
Wicliffe  was  the  "Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation." 

197.  His  greatest  work  was  a  complete  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  the  language  of  the  common  people.    In  1381,  he 
quitted  Oxford  for  the  humble  duties  of  a  parish  priest  at  Lut- 
terworth ;  and  there,  after  three  years  of  study  and 

A.  D.  1384.  ... 

charity,  he  died.  Thirty  years  later,  the  rage  of 
his  enemies  invaded  his  tomb,  burned  his  bones,  and  scattered 
the  ashes  upon  a  little  brook  which  flowed  through  the  village. 
"Thus,"  says  Fuller,  "the  brook  conveyed  his  ashes  into 
Avon ;  Avon  into  Severn ;  Severn  into  the  narrow  seas ;  they 
into  the  main  ocean  :  and  thus  the  ashes  of  Wicliffe  are  the  em- 
blem of  his  doctrine,  which  is  dispersed  over  all  the  world." 

198.  If  Wicliffe  was  the  father  of  English  prose,  Chaucer, 
who  outlived  him  fifteen  years,  was  the  first  modern  English 
poet.    Many  causes,  operating  through  five  hundred  years, 


WICLIFFE  AND  CHAUCER. 


107 


had  changed  the  language  of  England,  so  that  the  prose  of 
Alfred  and  the  verse  of  Csedmon  could  no  more  be  read  in 
Chaucer's  day  than  in  ours,  without  especial  study.  Chaucer's 
best  known  work  is  the  Canterbury  Tales,  in  which  he  has 
presented  lively  pictures  of  the  men  and  women  of  his  time, 
in  all  ranks  from  sailor  to  baron,  and  from  doctor  to  plow- 
man. His  sympathy  with  Wicliffe  is  expressed  in  his  praise 
of  the  poor  parson  —  who  followed  "Christ's  lore  and  his 
Apostles' "  before  he  taught  it  to  his  flock  —  and  in  his  ridi- 
cule of  the  indulgence-seller,  with  his  wallet  ' '  full  of  pardons 
come  from  Rome  all  hot." 

199.  Chaucer  was  a  favorite  of  king  and  nobles,  and  his 
verse  breathes  the  perfumed  elegance  and  luxury  of  the  court. 
The  people's  poet  of  the  time  was  Robert  Langland,  who 
called  himself  Piers  the  Plowman.  He  sang  in  ruder  and 
sadder  lines  the  hunger,  toil,  and  misery  of  the  poor  man's 
life,  darkened  by  his  own  ignorance  and  the  pitiless  op- 
pressions of  his  superiors  in  rank. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Revolt  of  the  English  peasantry  quelled  by  fearlessness  of  Richard 
II.  His  promises  of  emancipation  are  annulled  by  Parliament.  As- 
cendency of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester;  his  imprisonment  and  death. 
Richard  fails  to  content  any  class  of  his  people;  exiles  Henry  of  Lan- 
caster, and  confiscates  his  inheritance;  is  deposed  by  Parliament;  and 
Henry,  who  has  been  joined  on  his  return  by  a  powerful  party,  is 
placed  upon  the  throne.    Richard  dies  in  his  prison. 

Progress  of  agricultural  class  from  slaves  to  peasants.  War  between 
landlords  and  laborers.  Abuses  in  the  Church  exposed  by  Wicliffe's 
teachings.  His  influence  in  England  and  Bohemia.  He  translates 
the  whole  Bible  into  English.  Is  called  the  Morning  Star  of  the 
Reformation.  Chaucer  is  the  father  of  English  poetry.  Depicts  the 
whole  life  of  his  time  in  the  Canterbury  Tales.  Piers  Plowman  is  the 
poor  man's  poet. 


IX.   HOUSE  OF  LANCASTER. 

,   Jy  DMUND  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March, 

was  nearest  heir  to  the  throne, 
according  to  strict  principles  of 
hereditary  monarchy.  But  the 
English  crown  had  always  been 
in  some  degree  elective,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Henry 
IV.  (A.  D.  1399-1413)  had  all 
the  claim  that  could  be  derived 
from  the  national  will.  The  con- 
flict between  these  two  principles 
was  not  settled  until  some  cen- 
turies had  passed.  The  Earl  of 
March  was  a  child  of  seven  years 
at  the  time  of  Richard's  death 
(§  192),  and  he  was  kept  in  a 
sort  of  mild  captivity  throughout 
Henry's  reign. 

201.  The  King  tried  to  please 
the  clergy  by  persecuting  the 
Lollards;  and  for  the  first  time 
since  the  extermination  of  the 
"Druids,  English  air  was  tainted  with  the  smoke  of  human 
sacrifices.  Henry  was  less  successful  in  his  dealings  with  the 
great  nobles.  One  of  the  first  and  most  powerful  adherents 
to  whom  he  owed  his  crown  was  Henry  Percy,  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland.  But  when  the  Earl  had  won  a  great  vic- 
tory over  rebellious  Welsh  and  invading  Scots,  the  King  sent 
him  strict  orders  not  to  ransom  his  prisoners :  he  wished  to 
make  better  terms  with  Scotland  by  the  possession  of  one  of 
(108) 


Lollard  at  Stake. 


A.  D.  1406.]  REBELLION  OF  PERCY. 


109 


its  great  nobles.  But  by  the  laws  of  war  in  that  age,  the 
ransom  of  a  prisoner  belonged  to  his  captor ;  and  the  proud 
Percy  felt  himself  both  insulted  and  robbed.  He  now  re- 
solved to  overturn  the  throne  which  he  had  chiefly  aided  to 
set  up. 

202.  He  joined  the  Welsh  rebel,  Glendower ;  he  allied 
himself  with  his  prisoner,  the  Earl  of  Douglas ;  and  their 
combined  forces  met  those  of  the  King,  at  Shrewsbury. 
King  Henry  and  his  brave  son  were  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fight.  Northumberland  was  absent  through  illness :  his  son, 
the  fiery-tempered  Harry  Hotspur,  commanded  the  rebel 
forces;  but  his  death  decided  the  fiercely  fought  battle. 
Northumberland  was  pardoned,  in  view  of  his  former  serv- 
ices and  his  great  loss.  Two  years  later,  he  was  again  in 
rebellion;  this  time  with  Scrope,  Archbishop  of  York,  as  his 
ally.  The  rising  was  quickly  put  down,  and  the  Archbishop 
was  beheaded  as  a  traitor.  The  King  was  soon  afterward 
seized  with  a  loathsome  disease,  which  he  and  many  others 
believed  to  be  a  judgment  of  Heaven  upon  this  sacrilegious 
deed. 

203.  Accident  threw  into  Henry's  hands  the  heir  to  the 
Scottish  throne,  whom  he  ungenerously  kept  a  prisoner  for 
eighteen  years.  King  Robert  III.  of  Scotland  stood  in  mortal 
fear  of  his  violent  and  unscrupulous  brother,  the  Duke  of 
Albany,  who  had  already  caused  the  heir-apparent  to  be 
starved  in  a  dungeon,  and  seemed  bent  on  destroying  all 
lives  between  himself  and  the  throne.  To  save  his  only  re- 
maining son  from  destruction,  the  King  sent  him  to  France; 
but  the  vessel,  though  in  time  of  peace,  was  taken  by  English 
cruisers ;  and  the  Prince,  now  nine  years  old,  was 

....  7      .  A.  D.  i4c6. 

detained  by  King  Henry.    He  received  some 
amends  for  this  injustice  in  the  liberal  education  which  he 
acquired  during  his  captivity,  and  which  enabled  him  greatly 
to  improve  his  kingdom  on  his  return.    Grief  at  his  capture 
broke  his  father's  heart:  Robert  III.  died,  and  the  Scottish 


no 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1406. 


government  remained  many  years  in  the  hands  of  the  Duke 
of  Albany. 

204.  Henry  IV.  was  less  beloved  as  king  than  as  duke. 
Resentment  at  Richard's  misgovernment  was  lost  in  pity  at 
his  untimely  fate;  and  Henry's  consciousness  of  the  irregular 
manner  of  his  own  accession,  made  him  suspicious  even  of 
his  eldest  son,  and  stern  and  cruel  toward  all  whom  he, 
however  unjustly,  suspected  of  plotting  against  him.  Never- 
theless, the  power  of  the  Commons  was  greatly  increased 
during  this  reign.  It  could  hardly  be  otherwise,  when  the 
King's  best  title  to  his  crown  was  rested  upon  their  consent. 
Henry  died,  A.  D.  1413,  in  Westminster  Abbey,  where  he 
had  been  kneeling  before  the  shrine  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 

205.  His  son,  Henry  of  Monmouth,  now  King  Henry  V., 

was  the  idol  of  the  people,  not  more  for  his  extraordinary 

gifts  both  in  war  and  government,  than  for  his 
A.  D.  1413-1422.     &  ....  . 

gay  and  genial  disposition,  which  contrasted 

strongly  with  the  gloomy  temper  of  his  father.    He  had  been 

addicted  to  low  company  in  his  youth ;  but  on  coming  to  the 

throne,  he  dismissed  his  wild  companions,  confirmed  his 

father's  wise  old  ministers  in  their  offices,  and  entered  upon 

a  better  life.    All  party  differences  were  forgotten,  except 

that  which  separated  Catholics  and  Lollards. 

206.  An  old  friend  of  Henry's,  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  after- 
ward Lord  Cobham,  a  good  soldier  and  able  counselor,  was 
found  guilty  of  disbelieving  the  Real  Presence  in  the  sacra- 
ment, and  some  other  Catholic  dogmas.  He  was,  in  truth, 
the  chief  leader  of  the  Lollards,  how  a  powerful  party  in  the 
state;  and  wheri  imprisoned  ill  the  Tower,  tinder  sentence 
of  death,  he  was  enabled  to  make'  his  Escape*  and  set  on  foot 
a  formidable  iiisurf ection  against  the  King.  This  act  added 
treason  to  heresy.  Many  of  his  followers  were  taken  and  put 
to  death;  and  when,  after  four  years,  Cobham  himself  was 
captured,  he  was  first  hanged  and  then  burnt,  to  combine  the 
punishments  due  to  both  his  crimes. 


A.  D.  1415.]         BATTLE  OF  AGINCOURT, 


in 


207.  Having  purified  his  kingdom,  as  he  fondly  hoped, 
from  the  stain  of  heresy,  Henry  determined  to  prosecute  a 
claim  to  the  crown  of  France.  This  might  seem  the  most 
ludicrous  of  pretensions,  if  its  enforcement  had  not  cost  the 
lives  of  100,000  men.  Even  if  the  wife  of  Edward  II. 
(§§  167,  177)  had  had  any  right  to  her  father's  crown,  it 
was  of  no  avail  to  the  House  of  Lancaster,  so  long  as  Ed- 
mund Mortimer  lived.  But  Henry's  title  to  his  English 
kingdom  needed  to  be  strengthened  by  military  fame;  his 
barons'  appetite  for  stirring  adventures  might  have  made 
mischief  at  home,  if  it  had  not  been  gratified  abroad;  and 
the  miseries  of  France,  which  might  have  moved  a  more 
generous  heart  to  pity,  afforded  every  prospect  of  an  easy 
conquest. 

208.  The  French  King  was  insane;  his  heir  was  lazy  and 
luxurious ;  his  wife  hated  her  son  and  betrayed  her  husband ; 
his  brothers  took  advantage  of  the  wretched  confusion  to  en- 
rich themselves  out  of  the  treasures  of  the  state;  and  all 
France  was  rent  by  a  quarrel  between  the  Orleanists,  led  by 
the  King's  nephew,  and  the  Burgundians,  who  followed  his 
cousin.  Into  this  distracted  scene  Henry  entered,  Aug.  13, 
141 5,  with  his  well  equipped  and  powerful  army  of  30,000 
men.  His  first  movement  was  against  Harfleur,  which  he 
took  after  a  five  weeks'  siege,  though  with  the  loss  of  half 
his  men.  The  sick  and  wounded  were  sent  away  by  sea, 
while  their  King  marched  toward  Calais. 

209.  The  French  army,  numbering  four  times  his  own, 
awaited  him  under  the  castled  heights  of  Agincourt;  and 
here  was  fought  a  third  great  battle  (§§  178,  182),  in  which 
the  English,  against  surprising  odds^  won  the  day  against  the 
brave  and  brilliant  chivalry  of  France.  Heavy 

.  Oct.,  1415. 

rams  had  made  the  ground  difficult  for  cavalry, 
while  Henry's  light-armed  archers  were  able  to  move  with 
ease.    They  opened  the  battle  with  one  well-aimed  volley  of 
arrows;   then  seizing  the  hatchets  which  hung  from  their 


112 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1415. 


necks,  rushed  forward  with  a  deafening  shout,  which  in- 
creased the  confusion  of  the  wounded  men  and  horses  before 
them.  The  gallant  knights  and  gentlemen,  weighted  with 
their  steel  armor,  sank  to  their  saddle-girths  in  mud  and 
marsh. 

210.  One  by  one  the  French  lines  gave  way:  10,000  "gen- 
tlemen of  France  "  lay  dead  upon  the  field ;  and  among  the 
14,000  prisoners  were  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  and  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  nephew  of  the  King.  The  battle  of  Agincourt 
destroyed  the  old  nobility  of  France,  and  left  the  throne  for 
a  time  unsupported.  But  the  expense  of  maintaining  a  mod- 
ern army  made  the  victory  almost  useless  to  the  English ; 
and  Henry  retired  to  his  own  country,  "covered  with  glory 
and  buried  in  debt." 

211.  In  141 7,  he  landed  again  in  Normandy  with  25,000 
men.  The  miserable  jealousies  of  the  French  princes  had 
been  working  for  him,  and  he  quickly  subdued  Lower  Nor- 
mandy and  captured  Rouen.  The  base  and  brutal  murder 
of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  by  a  servant  of  the  Dauphin,  * 
immediately  after  a  solemn  treaty  of  peace  between  the  two 
princes,  still  more  favored  the  English.  The  new  Duke  allied 
himself  with  them  against  his  father's  murderer,  promising 
even  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  make  Henry  king  of  France. 
By  the  Treaty  of  Troyes  it  was  agreed  that  Henry  should 
marry  a  daughter  of  the  imbecile  King,  Charles  VI.,  while 
his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  was  to  marry  a  sister  of 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  King  Charles  was  to  keep  his  royal 
title,  but  the  King  of  England  was  to  administer  the  kingdom 
in  his  name,  and  to  receive  its  crown  at  Charles's  death,  in 
exclusion  of  the  Dauphin. 

212.  Henry,  with  his  captive  father-in-law,  made  a  tri- 
umphal entry  into  Paris;  and  a  year  later,  the  birth  of  his 
son  was  celebrated  with  equal  rejoicings  in  the  French  and 

*  The  eldest  son  of  the  King  of  France  bore  this  title. 


A.  D.  1422.] 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  V. 


the  English  capitals.  But  Henry's  prosperity  was  of  short 
duration  :  he  died  of  a  sudden  and  painful  dis- 

.    .  Aug.,  1422. 

order,  —  committing  the  government  of  France  to 
the  Duke  of  Bedford;  that  of  England,  to  another  brother, 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester;  and  the  guardianship  of  his  son,  to 
the  Earl  of  Warwick.  His  widow  soon  contracted  a  second 
marriage  with  Owen  Tudor,  a  descendant  of  the  Welsh 
princes,  and  became  ancestress  of  another  proud  line  of 
English  sovereigns.    (See  Table  p.  119.) 


RECAPITULATION. 

Henry  IV.  imprisons  a  nearer  heir  of  Edward  III.  than  himself; 
burns  Lollards  to  please  the  clergy  ;  offends  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
who  rebels  with  aid  of  the  Scots  and  Welsh.  Defeat  and  death  of 
Harry  Hotspur  at  Shrewsbury.  Execution  of  Archbishop  Scrope. 
Captivity  of  James  I.  of  Scotland.  Henry's  gloomy  and  unpopular 
temper.  His  title  being  derived  from  the  will  of  the  people,  the 
Commons  gain  power  during  his  reign. 

Henry  V.  reforms  his  conduct  on  his  accession  to  the  throne.  The 
Lollards  become  a  political  party ;  their  leader  is  executed  for  heresy 
and  treason.  Henry  invades  France;  captures  Harfleur;  gains  a  great 
victory  at  Agincourt ;  marries  a  daughter  of  the  French  King,  and  is 
acknowledged  as  his  successor;  dies  before  his  father-in-law.  Regency 
of  his  two  brothers,  in  minority  of  his  son. 


Eng. — 10. 


X.  HOUSE  OF  LANCASTER. 


Joan  of  Arc.  The    Dauphin  was  wiuily  called  "King 

of  Bourges,"  that  city  being  nearly  the  extent  of  his  actual 
dominion,  though  the  sovereignty  of  France  was  his  by  right. 
For  six  years  the  war  steadily  favored  the  English;  but  in 
1428  came  a  singular  turn  of  fortune.  The  English  were  be- 
sieging Orleans,  an  important  city  which,  by  commanding 
the  river  Loire,  held  the  key  to  southern  France.  If  it  fell, 
the  fortunes  of  Charles  VII.  were  irretrievably  ruined. 
(114) 


A.  D.  1436.] 


JOAN  OF  ARC. 


"5 


214.  At  this  point,  a  simple  peasant  girl,  Joan  of  Arc, 
believed  herself  inspired  by  Heaven  to  deliver  France.  Pre- 
senting herself  before  the  Dauphin,  she  so  far  convinced  him 
of  her  mission,  that  he  intrusted  her  with  a  command.  Dis- 
playing her  consecrated  banner  at  the  head  of  her  troops, 
she  excited  at  once  the  hopes  of  the  French  and  the  fears  of 
the  English,  and  triumphantly  convoyed  a  train  of  provision 
wagons  into  the  beleaguered  town.  By  successive  sorties  she 
drove  the  English  from  their  fortifications;  and,  at  length, 
the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  finding  it  impossible  to  make  his  soldiers 
fight  against  the  supposed  messenger  of  Heaven,  broke  up 
his  camp  and  withdrew  from  the  town. 

215.  Having  thus  delivered  Orleans,  Joan  prepared  for  the 
second  part  of  her  mission,  —  the  conducting  of  the  King  to 
Rheims  for  his  coronation.  This  also  was  triumphantly  ac- 
complished. Charles  was  anointed  with  the  holy  oil  which 
had  served  for  the  consecration  of  all  the  sovereigns  of 
France  since  Clovis.  This  done,  the  heroic  maid  demanded 
leave  to  return  to  her  sheepfolds.  But  Charles,  hoping 
further  advantage  from  her  presence,  refused  to  let  her  go; 
and  she  was  soon  afterward  captured  by  the 

English.     To   their   lasting   disgrace,   she  was 

treated  not  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  but  as  a  sorceress,  and 

condemned  by  a  court  of  bishops  to  be  burnt  to  death. 

216.  The  spell  of  English  ascendency  was  broken.  France 
willingly  submitted  to  her  hereditary  king.  The  Duke  of 
Burgundy  made  peace  with  his  feudal  chief,  and  the  Duke  of 
Bedford  died  soon  afterward, — some  said  from  vexation  at 
the  event.  Paris  opened  her  gates  to  Charles  VII. ;  and 
though  the  war  continued,  with  intervals  of  truce,  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  the  English  power  rapidly  declined. 

217.  Let  us  now  return  to  England,  where  the  Duke  of 
Bedford's  death  produced  effects  scarcely  less  disastrous  than 
in  France.    The  kingdom  was  divided  between  two  parties, 


[A.  D.  1445. 


led  respectively  by  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  a  proud  but 
generous  prince,  the  young  King's  uncle,  and  by  his  great 
uncle,  Cardinal  Beaufort,  a  son  of  John  of  Gaunt.  One 
great  subject  of  rivalry  between  them  was  the  choice  of  a 
wife  for  the  young  King.  Henry  was  of  a  gentle  and  harm- 
less disposition,  but  in  the  powers  of  his  mind  he  resembled 
rather  his  imbecile  French  grandfather,  than  either  of  the 
three  great  English  sovereigns  from  whom  he  was  more  im- 
mediately descended.  A  spirited  wife  would,  it  was  hoped, 
supply  his  defects;  and  the  choice  of  the  Beaufort  party  fell 
upon  Margaret  of  Anjou,  reputed  to  be  the  most  beautiful, 
clever,  and  accomplished  princess  of  her  age,  though  at  this 
time  she  was  but  fifteen  years  old.  Their  plan  prevailed; 
and  a  secret  article  of  the  marriage  treaty  ceded  the  English 
province  of  Maine,  in  France,  to  Margaret's  uncle,  Charles 
of  Anjou. 

218.  The  new  Queen  became  a  warm  adherent  of  the 
party  which  had  secured  her  marriage,  and  plotted  with 
them  the  ruin  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester.  He  was  impris- 
oned on  a  charge  of  treason,  and  died  before  his  trial,  prob- 
ably by  the  contrivance  of  his  enemies.  His  uncle,  Cardinal 
Beaufort,  died  a  few  weeks  later,  in  agonies  of  remorse. 
Margaret  was  no  favorite  with  the  English  people.  When 
her  kinsman,  the  King  of  France,  reconquered  Normandy 
and  Guienne,  they  suspected  treachery  of  the  same  kind 
which  had  deprived  them  of  Maine ;  and  though  seldom 
willing  to  vote  money  for  the  wars  in  France,  which  were, 
in  fact,  opposed  to  their  true  interests,  they  felt  the  loss  of 
any  territory  as  a  national  disgrace. 

219.  The  poor  King  of  England  was  at  a  low  ebb  in  his 
fortunes.  The  crown-lands  and  revenues  had  been  wasted 
during  his  minority,  and  his  household  could  only  be  sup- 
ported by  a  system  of  robbery  politely  called  the  ' 6  royal 
right  of  purveyance."  The  popular  wrath  at  this  state  of 
things  fell  upon  the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  Margaret's  chief  ally. 


A.  D.  1454.] 


CADE'S  REBELLION. 


117 


With  the  hope  of  saving  him  from  summary  vengeance,  the 
King  banished  him ;  but  he  was  overtaken  and  murdered  by 
his  enemies  before  he  could  leave  the  kingdom.  The  discon- 
tent of  the  people  broke  out  in  seditions  and  riots,  of  which 
the  most  formidable  was  Jack  Cade's  Rebellion.  Twenty 
thousand  insurgents  followed  this  man,  who  took  the  popu- 
lar name  of  Mortimer  (§  200).  They  defeated  the  King's 
forces  and  marched  upon  London,  which  opened  its  gates 
to  receive  them.  With  some  difficulty  the  rebellion  was  put 
down,  and  Cade  and  many  of  his  followers  paid  the  penalty 
with  their  lives. 

220.  If  Henry  VI.  had  been  as  able  a  man  as  his  father, 
it  might  have  been  forgotten,  by  this  time,  that  his  grand- 
father was  a  usurper.  But  his  incapacity  reminded  people 
of  the  imperfection  of  his  title,  and  the  better  claims  of  the 
Mortimers.  This  family  was  extinct  in  the  male  line  (see 
Table,  p.  119),  but  its  rights  were  transferred  by  marriage  to 
the  House  of  York.  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  was  a  brave, 
able,  and  generous  prince,  closely  allied  by  marriage  to  the 
earls  of  Salisbury  and  Warwick,  the  most  powerful  noblemen 
in  the  kingdom.  The  latter  was  soon  known  as  the  "  King- 
maker," from  his  commanding  influence.  He  was  the  last 
of  the  great  barons  who  held  their  broad  lands  on  condition 
of  service  in  war;  and  wherever  Warwick  moved,  he  was 
attended,  if  he  so  pleased,  by  an  army  of  retainers.  No 
fewer  than  30,000  persons  fed  daily  at  his  expense,  in  the 
various  castles  and  manors  which  belonged  to  him;  and 
soldiers  and  people  idolized  him  as  the  greatest  representa- 
tive of  their  national  aristocracy. 

221.  The  birth  of  a  Prince  of  Wales,  instead  of  strength- 
ening the  King's  cause,  removed  all  hope  of  the  peaceable 
succession  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  thus  hastened  the  ap- 
proaching conflict.  The  King,  about  the  same  time,  became 
utterly  imbecile.  The  Queen  and  her  council  had  to  yield 
to  the  popular  will,  and  the  Duke  of  York  became  lieutenant- 


Ii8  FEUDAL  ENGLAND.  [A.  D.  1461. 

general  and  protector  of  the  kingdom.    A  gleam  of  returning 
reason  enabled  the  King  to  dismiss  York,  and  commit  the 
government  to  Somerset,  the  nearest  relative  of  the  House 
of  Lancaster.    York  levied  an  army  and  gained 

A.  D.  1455.  J  b 

a  battle  at  St.  Albans,  in  which  Somerset  was 
slain  and  the  King  wounded.  This  was  the  first  blood  shed 
in  the  "Wars  of  the  Roses," — so  called  from  the  Yorkists 
wearing  a  white  rose  and  the  Lancastrians  a  red  one  as  their 
symbols. 

222.  Still  the  conflict  slumbered  five  years.  In  1460,  the 
King  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick.  Parlia- 
ment attempted  to.  settle  the  rival  claims,  by  making  the 
Duke  of  York  Protector  during  Henry's  life,  and  successor 
to  the  crown  at  his  death.  But  Queen  Margaret  bitterly  re- 
sented this  exclusion  of  her  son.  Raising  an  army  in  Scot- 
land and  the  northern  English  counties,  she  defeated  Duke 
Richard  at  Wakefield,  with  the  loss  of  his  life.  His  head, 
encircled  with  a  paper  crown,  was  fixed  upon  a  gate  of  York. 
Of  the  three  sons  who  survived  him,  two,  Edward  and  Rich- 
ard, became  kings  of  England,  while  his  granddaughter  Eliz- 
abeth was  queen  of  Henry  VII.  His  eldest  daughter  became 
the  wife  of  Charles  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  one  of  the 
most  renowned  princes  of  the  age. 

Queen  Margaret  gained  another  victory  at  St.  Albans,  and 
recovered  her  husband  from  his  captivity;  but  she  was  soon 
compelled  to  retreat  northward,  and  the  young  Duke  of 
York,  entering  London,  was  proclaimed  king  as  Edward 
IV.,  March  3,  1461. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Coronation  of  Henry  VI.  at  Paris.  Siege  of  Orleans  by  English ; 
its  rescue  by  Joan  of  Arc,  who  secures  the  crowning  of  Charles  VII. 
at  Rheims;  she  is  captured  and  burnt  to  death.  Decline  of  English 
power  in  France.  Unpopular  marriage  of  Henry  VI.  with  Margaret 
of  Anjou.    Death  of  rival  English  princes;  the  Duke  of  Gloucester 


GENEALOGICAL  TABLE. 


119 


and  Cardinal  Beaufort.  Jack  Cade's  Rebellion.  Greatness  of  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  the  king-maker,  who  favors  the  royal  claims  of  the 
Duke  of  York.  During  insanity  of  the  King,  dukes  of  Somerset  and 
York  are  rivals  in  the  protectorship.  Wars  of  the  Roses  begin  with 
battle  of  St.  Albans,  in  which  the  King  is  defeated  and  Somerset 
slain.  Death  of  the  Duke  of  York  at  Wakefield.  Coronation  of  his 
son  as  King  Edward  IV. 


Descent  from  Edward  III.  of  the  Three  Royal  Houses  of 
Lancaster,  York,  and  Tudor. 


Edward  III. 
I 


Edward,  Pr.  of 
Wales,  d.  1376, 
I  184. 

Richard  II. 
deposed,  1399, 
i  *92- 


Lionel,  Duke  of 
Clarence. 
I 

Philippa,  mar. 
Edm.  Mortimer, 
Earl  of  March. 
I 

Rog.  Mortimer, 
Earl  of  March. 
I 


Edm.  Mortimer, 
Earl  of  March, 
d.  1424,  200, 
207. 


I 

Anne  Mortimer 
m.  Richard,  E. 
of  Cambridge. 


J.  of  Gaunt,  m. 
Duke  of  Lan- 
caster. 

I 

Henry  IV. 


Henry  V.  m. 
Catherine  of 
France,  who  m. 
I 

Henry  VI. 
I 

Edward,  Pr.  of 
Wales,  d.  1471, 
2  226. 


3  Cath.  Swynford.  Edmund,   D.  of 
I  York. 
John  Beaufort,  I 
E.  of  Somerset.    Richard,  Earl  of 
I  Cambridge,  be- 

John  Beaufort,    headed,  1415. 
D.  of  Somerset.  I 

-L  Richard,    D.  of 
Vork,     died  at 
Wakefield,  1460, 
Owen  Tudor.       §  222. 


Edmund  Tu- 
dor, Earl  of 
Richmond,  m.  Margaret 
Beaufort. 


Henry  VII. 


Edward  IV. 
I 


George,  D.  of 
Clarence. 
I 


Richard  III. 


Elizabeth 

m.  Henry  VII. 

(See  p.  150.) 


Edward  V. 
d.  1483. 


Richard,  D.  of 
York. 


I 

Edward,  E.  of 
Warwick,  be- 
headed, 1499. 


I 

Margaret,  Count- 
ess of  Salisbury, 
beheaded,  1541. 


XI.   HOUSE  OF  YORK. 


'DWARD  IV.  (A.  D.  1461-1483)  was 

a  brave  and  able,  but  cruel  king ; 
willing  to  wade  through  seas  of 
blood  to  the  assured  possession 
of  his  throne.  A  terrible  battle 
at  Towton  ended  in  the  defeat 
and  slaughter  or  dispersion  of 
BfSy  the  Lancastrians.  Some  of  the 
noblest  heads  in  England  fell 
upon  the  scaffold,  and  their  con- 
fiscated wealth  went  to  build  up 
the  despotic  power  on  which  the 
King  had  set  his  heart;  for  it 
enabled  him  to  support  the  ex- 
pense of  government  without  hav- 
ing recourse  to  Parliament. 

Queen  Margaret  did  not  abate 
her  efforts,  but  with  the  French  King's  aid  invaded  England 
in  1464.  She  was  twice  defeated,  and  taking  refuge  with  her 
son  in  the  woods,  was  robbed  of  all  her  jewels,  but  managed 
to  escape  while  the  ruffians  were  quarreling  over  their  prize. 
Meeting  another  robber,  she  appealed  not  in  vain  to  his  gen- 
erosity, and  was  safely  conveyed  over  the  border.  Her  hus- 
band was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower. 

224.  King  Edward  married  an  English  lady,  Elizabeth 
Woodville,  and  thereby  offended  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who 
was  planning  a  brilliant  foreign  match  for  his  master.  The 
new  Queen  claimed  all  the  gifts  and  honors  of  the  court  for 
her  own  kinsmen,  and  lost  no  opportunity  to  thwart  and 
injure  Warwick.  The  old  nobility,  incensed  by  the  rise  of 
(120) 


William  Caxton,  Printer. 


A.  D.  1476.]    INTRODUCTION  OF  PRINTING. 


1  2  1 


all  these  "new  people,"  mustered  around  the  King-maker. 
Chief  of  them  all  in  rank  was  the  King's  own  brother,  the 
Duke  of  Clarence,  who  married  a  daughter  of  the  great 
Earl. 

225.  Warwick  now  repaired  to  the  French  court,  where  he 
met  Queen  Margaret,  and  engaged  to  support  the  royal  rights 
of  her  husband  and  son.  Landing  with  a  few  followers  on 
the  Kentish  coast,  the  Earl  was  soon  joined  by  a  great  army. 
Edward  fled  beyond  seas ;  and  in  eleven  days 

.  A.  D.  1470. 

from  his  arrival,  Warwick  was  master  of  England. 
He  took  Henry  VI.  from  his  prison  and  showed  him  to  the 
people  as  their  king.  But  Edward  IV.,  aided  by  his  Bur- 
gundian  brother-in-law  (§  222),  soon  mustered  a  small  fleet 
and  army,  and  effected  a  landing  in  Yorkshire.  Gaining  the 
two  great  cities  of  York  and  London,  he  threw  poor  King 
Henry  into  his  dungeon  again;  then  rallying  all  his  forces, 
he  met  Warwick  at  Barnet,  and  won  a  victory  which  was 
completed  by  the  great  Earl's  death. 

226.  Margaret,  landing  the  same  day  at  Weymouth,  heard 
of  the  disaster;  but  she  increased  her  army  and  fought  with 
Edward  at  Tewkesbury,  where  she  and  her  son  became  pris- 
oners. The  Prince  was  murdered  in  the  very  presence  of  his 
conqueror,  the  signal  for  the  crime  having  been  given  by  a 
blow  from  the  King's  own  hand.  His  father  died  a  few  days 
later  in  the  Tower ;  his  unhappy  mother,  after  years  of  fierce 
and  restless  plotting  for  revenge,  died  in  1482,  at  her  father's 
court  in  Provence. 

227.  The  remainder  of  Edward's  reign  was  inglorious. 
He  invaded  France;  but  being  disappointed  of  the  aid  he 
expected  from  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  he  consented  to  be 
bought  off  by  the  wily  King  Louis  XL  The  greatest  event 
of  his  reign  —  though  little  marked,  perhaps,  by  the  King  — 
was  the  introduction  of  printing.  William  Caxton,  a  worthy 
London  merchant,  had  retired  from  trade  and  become  a 
copyist  in  the  service  of  King  Edward's  sister  the  Duchess 

Eng.  ix. 


[A.  D.  1476. 


of  Burgundy.  Hearing  of  the  new  art  —  the  invention  of  one 
Hollandish  and  two  German  mechanics  —  which  was  multiply- 
ing books  with  miraculous  speed,  Caxton  set  himself,  in  his 
sixtieth  year,  to  become  a  printer ;  and,  three 
years  later,  carried  his  press  and  types  to  Eng- 
land.   Here  the  old  man  toiled  until  his  eightieth  year ;  and 

sixty-five  books,  of  many  of 
which  he  was  author  or 
translator,  as  well  as  printer, 
bear  witness  to  his  industry 
and  zeal. 

228.  Edward  IV.  died  in 
1483,  and  his  eldest  son, 
Edward,  was  acknowledged 
as  king,  under  the  regency 
of  his  uncle  Richard.  But 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester's 
long  concealed  ambition  now 
came  to  its  fulfillment.  He 
seized  and  beheaded  the 
young  King's  uncle  and  half- 
brother  on  the  mother's  side, 
and,  under  the  title  of  Pro- 
tector of  the  Realm,  took 
the  whole  power  into  his 
own  hands.  The  Queen  and  her  five  daughters  fled  into 
sanctuary  at  Westminster. 

229.  One  morning  the  Protector  entered  the  Royal  Coun- 
cil, with  an  angry  face.  "What  punishment,"  he  cried, 
"should 'be  visited  upon  those  who  plot  against  my  life?" 
"Death!"  cried  Lord  Hastings,  the  President  of  the  Council, 
with  excess  of  zeal.  "These  traitors,"  said  Richard,  "are 
my  brother's  wife  and  her  accomplices.  See  to  what  a  state 
they  have  reduced  me  by  their  witchcraft!"  So  saying, 
he  raised  his  sleeve  and  showed  an  arm  all  withered  and 


A.  D.  1485.] 


RICHARD  III. 


123 


shrunken.  Knowing  well  that  this  had  been  its  condition 
from  infancy,  Hastings  said,  "If  they  have  done  this  deed, 
my  lord," —  4kIf!"  shouted  the  Protector;  "dost  thou  talk 
to  me  of  ifs  ?  I  tell  thee,  thou  art  a  traitor ;  and  by  St.  Paul, 
I  will  not  dine  until  I  see  thy  head  cut  off!"  Without  appeal 
to  law  or  justice,  Hastings  was  hurried  into  the  outer  court 
of  the  Tower,  and  laid  across  a  beam  which  happened  to 
be  lying  there.  "  His  head  was  cut  off  with  an  ax,  and  the 
Lord  Protector  dined. " 

230.  Only  one  more  crime  lay  between  Richard  and  the 
throne.  The  two  young  princes,  Edward  and  his  brother 
Richard,  Duke  of  York,  had  been  lodged  in  the  Tower. 
They  never  more  appeared  in  open  day;  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  horrid  story  that  they  were  smothered 
in  their  bed  by  ruffians,  hired  by  their  uncle  for  the  purpose. 

The  Duke  of  Gloucester  became  Kins:  Puchard 

,    ....  <  ,  i  A-  D  1483-1485. 

III.;  and,  to  do  him  justice,  consoled  the  peo- 
ple by  wise  and  beneficent  government  for  the  violence  with 
which  he  had  seized  the  crown.  He  convoked  a  parliament, 
annulled  most  of  the  exactions  and  tyrannies  of  his  brother's 
reign,  protected  the  growing  commerce  of  the  realm,  and 
favored  especially  the  diffusion  of  learning, 

231.  But  the  English  people  how  remembered  with  pride 
the  warlike  glory  of  Henry  V.,  and  the  meek  virtues  of  his 
son,  while  it  forgot  their  faults  in  the  violent  crimes  and  ex- 
cesses of  their  Yorkist  successors.  Their  hopes  and  wishes 
turned  toward  Henry  Tudor,  Earl  of  Richmond,  a  descend- 
ant through  a  female  line  from  John  of  Gaunt,  and  therefore 
a  representative  of  the  House  of  Lancaster.  (See  Table,  p. 
119.)  He  had  been  many  years  on  the  Continent,  protected 
alternately  by  the  Duke  of  Brittany  and  the  King  of  France, 
Louis  XL,  whose  crooked  and  artful  policy  he  thoroughly 
imbibed.  By  his  betrothal  to  Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of 
King  Edward  IV.,  he  won  the  support  even  of  the  Yorkists, 
who  were  horrified  by  the  murder  of  their  young  King. 


124 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


[A.  D.  1485. 


232.  Landing  with  a  small  French  army  at  Milford  Haven, 
Tudor  advanced  to  Bosworth  Field,  in  Leicestershire,  where 
Richard  was  drawn  up  to  receive  him.  In  the  night  before 
the  battle,  half  the  chiefs  of  the  royal  army  marched  over 
with  all  their  followers  to  the  Tudor  side.  Nevertheless, 
Richard  fought  as  if  all  the  valor  of  the  royal  line  which 
ended  in  him  were  nerving  his  arm  and  firing  his  brain. 
Plunging  into  the  thickest  of  the  crowd,  he  hewed  his  way- 
to  the  presence  of  Henry,  —  resolved  that  the 
question  between  them  should  be  settled  by  the 
death  of  one,  —  and  fell,  overborne  by  numbers,  but  fighting 
to  his  last  breath.  His  crown  was  found  on  a  thorn-bush 
and  placed  upon  the  head  of  his  conqueror,  who  was  hailed 
from  all  parts  of  the  field  with  shouts  of  "God  save  King 
Henry  the  Seventh  ! " 

Thus  ended  the  Plantagenet  Line ;  and  in  its  fall,  Feudal 
England  also  passed  away. 


RECAPITULATION. 

Arbitrary  and  cruel  temper  of  Edward  IV.  Misfortunes  of  Queen 
Margaret.  The  new  Queen  offends  the  King-maker,  who  reinstates 
Henry  VI.,  while  Edward  flees  the  kingdom.  He  returns,  and  War- 
wick is  defeated  and  slain  at  Barnet.  Margaret  and  her  son  are  pris- 
oners at  Tewkesbury.  Death  of  Henry  VI.  and  his  son.  Introduction 
of  printing.  Richard  of  Gloucester  usurps  power  upon  his  brother's 
death ;  murders  Fords  Rivers,  Grey,  and  Hastings,  and  his  two 
nephews;  is  crowned  as  king.  Henry  Tudor  invades  England; 
espouses  Elizabeth  of  York ;  gains  battle  of  Bosworth,  in  which 
Richard  is  slain;  is  crowned  as  King  Henry  VII. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW. 


PART  II. 

1.  Describe  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror.        $$96-109,  114 

2.  The  character  and  reign  of  his  successor.  110-114 

3.  What  princes  had  part  in  the  Crusades?  113,  136,  137,  155 

4.  Tell  the  history  of  Henry  Beauclerc.  1 1 5—1 17 

5.  Who  had  the  best  right  to  succeed  him?  118,  119 

6.  Describe  Stephen's  reign.  120-123 

7.  The  first  of  the  English  Plantagenets.        123,  124,  133 

8.  Name  the  chief  events  of  his  reign.  124-132 

9.  Tell  the  story  of  Thomas  a  Becket.  125-129 

10.  What  other  primates  had  great  influence?        100,  no,  in,  143 

11.  What  kings  in  this  period  persecuted  the  Jews?  135,  161 

12.  Describe  the  character  and  adventures  of  Richard  I.  134-140 

13.  The  character  and  reign  of  John.       132,  138,  141-146 

14.  ,     The  minority  of  Henry  III.  148,  149 

15.  His  foreign  connections,  150,  151 

16.  Simon  de  Montfort  and  the  rise  of  the  English 

Parliament.  152-154 

17.  Roger  Bacon  at  Oxford.  156-158 

18.  The  rise  of  the  Mendicant  Orders.  159 

19.  On  what  terms  was  Wales  united  with  England?  160 

20.  Describe  the  policy  of  Edward  I.,  and  the  progress  of 

Parliament.  161—171 

21.  Tell  the  whole  story  of  Scotland,  and  its  relations  with 

English  kings.    20,  47,  53,  58,  76,  99,  115,  123,  131,  136,  162- 
165,  168-171,  173,  175,  176,  180,  203 

22.  Describe  the  character  and  reign  of  Edward  II.  172-174 

23.  The  acts  of  Edward  III.,  at  home  and  abroad.  175-185 

24.  The  condition  and  conduct  of  the  peasantry  in 

his  and  the  following  reign.  186-188,  193,  194 

25.  The  character  of  Richard  II.,  and  his  govern- 

ment. 189,  190 

26.  Tell  the  story  of  Henry  of  Lancaster.  190-192,  200-204 

(125) 


126 


FEUDAL  ENGLAND. 


27.  Tell  the  story  of  Wicliffe.  I95~I97 

28.  Describe  the  chief  poets  of  the  time.  198,  199 

29.  The  reign  of  Henry  V.  205-212 

30.  What  three  great  victories  of  the  English  in  France?  178,  182,  209 

31.  Describe  the  English  regency  in  France.  213-216 

32.  The  reign  of  Henry  VI.  in  England.  217-219 

33.  What  occasioned  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  ?  220-222 

34.  Describe  the  character  and  reign  of  Edward  IV.  223-227 

35.  Tell  the  story  of  the  "King-maker."                        220,  224,  225 

36.  Describe  the  reign  of  Richard  III.  228-232 

37.  What  claims  had  Henry  Tudor  to  the  English  crown  ? 

38.  How  many  kings  of  the  Elder  Norman  Line  ? 

39.  How  many  Plantagenets  ? 

40.  What  was  the  average  length  of  their  reigns? 

41.  How  many  captive  kings  at  the  court  of  Edward  III.? 

42.  Had  the  Flouse  of  York  or  that  of  Lancaster  the  better  hereditary 

claim  to  the  crown  ? 

43.  What  was  the  strongest  claim  of  Henry  IV.  ? 


PART  III-THE  TUDORS. 


I.  OPENING  OF  THE  MODERN  ERA. 


rE  turn  over  a  new  leaf  in  the  His- 
tory of  England,  and  enter  upon 
the  study  of  a  grand  new  era. 
The  Wars  of  the  Roses,  now 
ended,  had  broken  down  that 
mighty  baronage  which  wrested 
Magna  Charta  from  King  John, 
and  availed  itself  of  his  son's 
weakness  to  perfect  the  founda- 
tions of  English  freedom.  Their 
fall  was  doubtless  a  benefit,  for 
their  iron  hand  had  rested  heavily 
upon  the  people.  But  the  imme- 
diate effect  was  to  give,  not  greater 
freedom  to  the  people,  but  greater 
power  to  the  king.  The  confis- 
cated wealth  of  the  great  houses 
had  enabled  Edward  IV.  to  reign 
almost  without  parliaments ;  and 
the  Tudors  ruled  with  higher  hand 
than  even  the  Plantagenets  had 
done.  Nevertheless,  the  diffusion 
of  intelligence  through  printed 
books,  and  the  mental  excitement  caused  by  the  stirring  events 
which  ushered  in  the  modern  era,  led  to  great  progress  in  art, 
science,  literature,  and  the  refinements  of  home-life, 

(127) 


A  Miracle  Play. 


128 


HOUSE   OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  14S7. 


234.  In  Europe  at  large,  men  were  greeting  the  dawn  of 
a  new  day.  Scholars,  fleeing  westward  after  the  conquest 
of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  had  brought  copies  of  many 
great  works  of  ancient  literature ;  and  the  enthusiasm  they 
inspired  was  not  confined  to  the  learned  circles  of  the  Uni- 
versities. Knowledge  was  no  longer  the  rare  privilege  of 
those  who  could  buy  cgstly  manuscripts,  but  had  become  the 
birthright  of  all. 

235.  In  France  and  Spain,  no  less  than  in  England,  the 
great  fiefs  had  become  absorbed  into  powerful  monarchies ; 
and  permanently  paid  troops  had  taken  the  place  of  the  old 
feudal  armies,  which  had  always  been  ready  to  crumble  to 
pieces  just  when  most  needed.  The  possession  of  standing 
armies  enabled  kings  to  engage  in  distant  wars,  and  these 
wars  first  made  the  several  nations  acquainted  with  each 
others'  languages  and  ideas. 

236.  The  minds  of  men  awoke  to  new  enterprises  which 
greatly  increased  the  sum  of  human  knowledge.  The  Por- 
tuguese were  first  to  put  forth  into  the  stormy  Atlantic;  and 
one  of  their  captains,  rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
opened  a  sea  route  to  India  and  the  great,  rich  continent 
of  Asia.  Other  nations  followed ;  and,  seven  years  after  the 
battle  of  Bosworth,  an  Italian  in  Spanish  service  set  his  foot 
upon  the  threshold  of  a  New  World.  The  explorations,  fol- 
lowing this  magnificent  discovery,  afforded  a  welcome  outlet 
to  the  daring  and  restless  spirits  of  Europe ;  and  the  voyages 
of  Columbus  were  among  the  great  events  that  distinguished 
the  opening  of  the  modern  era. 

England  had  her  full  share  in  the  adventures  of  those 
glorious  days.  Though  prevented  from  aiding  Columbus, 
Henry  VII.  sent  a  fleet  under  Cabot,  a  Venetian,  which  was 
the  first  to  approach  the  American  Continent ;  and  the  brave 
and  hardy  English,  inclined  to  the  sea,  not  less  from  their 
Norse  or  Saxon  blood  than  from  their  island  home,  were 
soon  to  be  found  in  the  remotest  quarters  of  the  globe. 


A.  D.  I493-] 


TWO  IMPOSTORS. 


129 


237.  The  early  years  of  Henry  VII.  were  disturbed  by 
two  Yorkist  insurrections.  An  Oxford  priest,  named  Simon, 
taught  Simnel,  a  baker's  boy,  to  enact  the  part    A  D  x  8„ 

of  the  young  Earl  of  Warwick,  Clarence's  son 
(§  224),  whom  King  Henry  had  confined  in  the  Tower. 
Ireland  was  warmly  attached  to  the  House  of  York,  and 
especially  to  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  who  had  been  its  lord- 
lieutenant;  and  when  Simon's  pupil  landed  at  Dublin  as 
Edward  Plantagenet,  the  whole  island  greeted  him  with  loyal 
acclamations  as  King  Edward  the  Sixth. 

In  England,  the  rebellion  was  quickly  put  down  by  the 
exhibition  of  the  true  Edward  in  the  streets  of  London. 
But  the  dowager  Duchess  of  Burgundy  (§§  222,  227),  easily 
convinced  or  willingly  deceived  by  the  imposture,  sent  over 
a  German  army  to  invade  England,  in  concert  with  Simnel' s 
Irish  forces.  By  the  battle  of  Stoke  the  rebellion  was  com- 
pletely crushed.  Simon,  being  a  priest,  was  only  imprisoned ; 
and  the  pretended  Plantagenet  became  a  scullion  in  the 
King's  kitchen. 

238.  The  second  insurrection  was  led  by  a  supposed 
Richard,  Duke  of  York  (§  230).  His  real  name  was  Perkin 
Warbeck,  son  of  a  merchant  of  Tournay ;  but  his  courtly 
manners  and  speech,  with  his  intellectual  gifts  and  accom- 
plishments, made  him  more  presentable  as  a  prince  than  poor 
Simnel,  the  baker's  boy,  had  been.  Charles  VIII.  of  France, 
who  was  preparing  for  a  war  with  England,  entertained  him 
at  Paris  with  all  the  magnificence  suitable  to  a  royal  prince; 
and  the  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  after  scrutinizing  and  ques- 
tioning him  severely,  embraced  him,  with  joyful  tears,  as  her 
long-lost  nephew. 

239.  The  brisk  trade  then  kept  up  between  England  and 
the  Netherlands,  afforded  means  of  spreading  in  the  former 
country  the  news  of  the  wonderful  escape  of  the  ' 'White 
Rose."  But  King  Henry's  spies  were  so  many  and  vigilant, 
that  few  dared  breathe  a  word  in  favor  of  the  Pretender. 


i3° 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1496. 


The  King  of  Scotland,  however,  received  him  with  royal 
honors,  gave  him  a  noble  lady  for  his  wife,  and  even  invaded 
England,  in  hope  that  at  least  the  Yorkshire  people  would 
rise  in  favor  of  their  native  prince.  This  hope  was  disap- 
pointed, and  Perkin  had  to  take  refuge  in  the  Irish  bogs. 

The  poor  miners  of  Cornwall  had  meanwhile  been  driven 
to  rebellion  by  heavy  taxes,  and  the  pretended  prince  appear- 
ing among  them,  was  soon  at  the  head  of  7,000 
P  '  457  men.  But  at  the  approach  of  the  royal  forces, 
"  King  Richard  IV."  deserted  his  followers  and  fled,  surren- 
dering himself  soon  afterward  upon  a  false  promise  of  pardon. 
This  unkingly  cowardice  satisfied  the  people  that  he  was  no 
Plantagenet,  and  there  was  little  grief  when  he  was  hanged 
at  Tyburn.  The  young  Earl  of  Warwick  was  beheaded  a 
few  days  later;  and  this  revengeful  act  destroyed  whatever 
love  the  people  may  still  have  felt  for  Henry  VII. 

240.  Henry's  notorious  avarice  was  so  far  a  benefit  to 
England,  that  it  restrained  him  from  costly  wars.  But  he 
availed  himself  of  a  quarrel  with  France  to  extort  a  forced 
loan  —  curiously  called  a  benevolence — from  his  people,  while 
he  was  already  secretly  negotiating  the  terms  of  a  peace. 
This  was  obtained  by  a  large  payment  from  the  King  of 
France  to  the  King  of  England,  who  thus,  like  a  shrewd 
merchant,  made  a  double  profit  out  of  friends  and  enemies. 

241.  The  only  important  events  of  Henry's  remaining 
years  were  the  marriages  of  his  children.  Arthur,  his  eldest 
son,  espoused  Catherine,  a  daughter  of  the  Spanish  sov- 
ereigns, Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  whose  kingdom  was  now 
the  most  powerful  in  Europe  (§  249).  The  young  Prince 
died  a  few  months  after  the  marriage ;  and  King  Henry, 
unwilling  to  surrender  the  200,000  ducats  of  the  Princess's 
dowry,  obtained  the  Pope's  permission  to  marry  her  to  his 
next  son,  Henry,  who  now  became  heir  to  the  crown.  His 
eldest  daughter,  Margaret,  was  married  the  same  year  to 
James  IV.,  King  of  Scotland.    Both  of  these  marriages  had 


A.  D.  1509.]  DEATH  OF  HENRY  VI L 


important  effects,  not  only  in  the  affairs  of  England,  but  in 
those  of  Europe. 

242.  In  1506,  the  Princess  Catherine  had  a  forced  visit 
from  her  eldest  sister,  who  was  wife  of  the  Archduke  Philip 
of  Austria.  A  storm  drove  the  Archduke's  vessel  into  an 
English  harbor ;  and  King  Henry  refused  to  let  his  guests 
depart  until  he  had  wrung  from  them  a  new  treaty  of  com- 
merce with  the  Netherlands,  and  some  other  concessions  of 
equal  advantage  to  himself.  The  King's  avarice  grew  with 
his  declining  years.  His  worst  instruments  were  Dudley  and 
Empson,  two  lawyers  whose  professional  skill  only  enabled 
them  to  oppress  the  innocent,  and  fill  the  King's  chests  with 
ill-gotten  treasures. 

243.  As  he  felt  his  end  approach,  Henry's  disposition  to 
drive  a  hard  bargain  did  not  desert  him:  he  engaged  2,000 
masses,  at  six-pence  a  piece,  to  be  said  for  the  repose  of  his 
soul !  He  also  ordered  restitution  to  be  made  to  all  whom 
he  had  injured ;  but  this,  unhappily,  was  no  longer  possible. 
He  was  buried  in  the  grand  chapel  which  he  had  built  for 
himself,  as  an  addition  to  Westminster  Abbey,  and  which 
still  bears  his  name. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Opening  of  the  Modern  Era.  Fall  of  feudalism,  rise  of  standing 
armies,  and  increase  of  kingly  power.  Revival  of  learning  ;  growth 
of  intelligence  among  the  common  people.  Maritime  enterprise; 
opening  of  a  sea  route  to  India ;  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus 
and  Cabot.  Two  impostors  claim  the  crown  of  Henry  VII.,  without 
success.  Henry  avoids  war  for  economical  reasons ;  allies  his  children 
with  the  royal  houses  of  Spain  and  Scotland;  extorts  a  commercial 
treaty  from  Philip  of  Austria;  hoards  money  wrung  from  his  people 
by  unrighteous  exactions. 


II.  REIGN  OF  HENRY  VIII. 


Headsman. 


EVER  king  came  to  his  throne 
amid  greater  joy  of  his  people, 
or  with  brighter  promise  of  a 
happy  and  glorious  reign,  than 
Henry  VIII.    (A.   D.  1509- 
1547).    The  rival  families  of 
:    York  and  Lancaster  were  hap- 
|  pily  united  in  him.    He  was 
>   heir  of  an  enormous  treasure, 
which  he  dispensed  with  gay 
^  liberality,  while  he  brought  to 
the  block  the  guilty  agents  by 
whom   it   had   been  collected 


(§  242).  Henry  was  eighteen  years  old,  handsome,  energetic, 
and  fond  of  chivalrous  amusements,  while  endowed  with  great 
powers  of  mind,  a  hearty  friend  of  the  New  Learning,  and 
inspired  with  a  sincere  desire  to  rule  justly. 

245.  A  few  weeks  after  his  accession,  he  celebrated  his 
marriage  with  the  Princess  Catherine  (§  241),  and  the  two 
were  crowned  together,  June  24,  1509.  Henry's  thirst  for 
' '  glory"  led  him  to  join  the  Spanish  and  Italian  powers  in  a 
league  against  France,  reviving  the  almost  forgotten  claim  of 
his  ancestors  to  the  western  provinces  of  that  kingdom.  His 
first  enterprise  brought  no  good  to  England;  for  his  crafty 
father-in-law,  the  King  of  Spain,  used  the  English  forces  to 
conquer  Navarre  for  himself,  instead  of  Guienne,  for  which 
they  had  been  sent.  Henry's  own  invasion  of  France,  though 
he  captured  Terouenne  and  Tournay,  was  hardly  more  suc- 
cessful ;  for  the  League  was  suddenly  dissolved  by  Ferdi- 
nand's desertion,  and  Henry  was  left  to  make  peace  as  best 
he  might. 


(132) 


A.  D.  1515.]  GREATNESS  OF  WOLSEY. 


r33 


246.  The  treaty  was  sealed  by  the  marriage  of  the  King's 
sister  Mary  with  Louis  XII.,  the  aged  King  of  France. 
Louis  died  soon  afterward,  and  his  young  cousin  Francis, 
the  life-long  rival  of  Henry,  received  the  French  crown.  The 
widowed  young  queen  was  soon  married  to  Charles  Brandon, 
Duke  of  Suffolk,  a  great  favorite  of  her  brother,  and  the  most 
accomplished  nobleman  of  his  time.  Her  sister,  the  Queen 
of  Scotland  (§  241),  had  been  widowed  the  year  before,  by 
the  disastrous  battle  of  Flodden  Field.  James  IV.,  thinking 
to  make  a  diversion  in  behalf  of  his  ally,  the  King  of  France, 
entered  England  with  a  great  army  and  ravaged  g  , 
Northumberland.    He  was  met  by  the  Earl  of 

Surrey  at  Flodden,  near  the  Cheviot  Hills,  where,  in  a  long 
and  obstinate  combat,  the  flower  of  Scotch  nobility  perished, 
and  the  King  was  slain.  Queen  Margaret,  as  regent  for  her 
infant  son,  sued  for -peace,  which  her  brother  readily  granted. 

247.  Henry's  chief  minister  at  this  time  was  Thomas  Wol- 
sey,  a  churchman  of  humble  birth  but  great  genius,  who,  by 
the  King's  favor,  rose  rapidly  into  power.  He  became  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  and  was  allowed  to  hold  the  sees  of  Tournay, 
Lincoln,  and  Winchester  "in  plurality."  The  Pope  not  only 
sent  him  a  cardinal's  hat,  which  made  him  a  prince  of  the 
Church,  but  added  the  dignity  of  papal  legate,  which  gave 
him  a  power  in  England  equal  to  that  of  the  Pope  himself. 
By  the  King  he  was  intrusted  with  the  Great  Seal ;  and  no 
abler  chancellor  ever  administered  justice  in  England.  So 
prompt  and  so  just  were  his  decisions,  that  the  Court  of 
Chancery  —  contrary  to  its  later  character  —  became  the  sure 
refuge  of  the  oppressed. 

248.  While  really  the  mainspring  of  all  that  was  done  in 
England,  Wolsey  contrived  to  make  every  act  of  government 
appear  to  proceed  directly  from  the  King,  and  flattered  his 
royal  master  by  affecting  the  most  humble  submission  to  his 
will.  Like  the  King  himself,  he  was  a  friend  of  the  New 
Learning ;  a  munificent  patron  of  learned  men.    He  founded 


!34 


HOUSE   OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1519. 


the  first  professorship  of  Greek  in  England;  he  established  a 
school  at  Ipswich  and  a  college  at  Oxford,  which,  under  its 
later  name  of  Christ  Church,  still  attests  his  taste  and  liberality 
in  building.  His  household  almost  equaled  the  King's  in 
number  and  magnificence ;  knights  and  barons  served  at  his 
table ;  and  his  two  mansions,  at  Hampton  Court  and  White- 
hall, were  splendid  enough  to  be  adopted  as  royal  palaces, 
after  his  fall  from  power. 

249.  On  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  the  kings 
of  France,  Spain,  and  England  all  became  candidates  for  the 
a  d  imperial  crown.    The  German  electors  conferred 

5  9  it  upon  Charles  V. ,  King  of  Spain,  and  grandson 
of  the  former  Emperor,  who  thus  became  the  greatest  mon- 
arch of  his  time.  From  his  father  he  inherited  the  seventeen 
duchies,  counties,  and  baronies  which  were  known  collectively 
as  the  Netherlands,  or  Low  Countries;  from  his  mother,  all 
the  kingdoms  of  Spain,  the  great  duchy  of  Milan  in  northern, 
and  the  kingdom  of  Naples  in  southern  Italy.  The  world 
itself  seemed  to  have  been  enlarged  for  him ;  for  all  the  lands 
and  treasures  of  the  newly  discovered  hemisphere  (§  236) 
had  been  conferred  upon  the  Spanish  sovereigns  by  a  pope 
who  was  himself  a  Spaniard, 

250.  King  Francis,  bitterly  disappointed  by  his  failure  in 
the  imperial  election,  sought  Henry's  friendship  as  a  counter- 
poise to  the  enormous  power  of  Charles.  A  royal  interview 
was  arranged  to  take  place  near  Calais ;  but  before  the  ap- 
pointed time,  the  new  Emperor  made  a  friendly  visit  to 
England.  He  flattered  Wolsey  with  a  promise  of  becoming 
pope  at  the  next  vacancy,  and  won  the  favor  of  Henry  and 
Catherine  by  his  frank  and  genial  courtesies.  On  the  day 
of  his  departure,  Henry  and  all  his  court  set  sail  for  Calais. 

251.  The  meeting  which  followed  is  known  as  the  Field 
of  Cloth  of  Gold,  so  gorgeous  were  the  tents  and  trappings 
of  the  two  courts.    The  two  Kings  displayed  their  knightly 


A.  D.  1526.] 


FOREIGN  RELA  TIONS. 


*35 


skill  in  tilts  and  tourneys,  while  their  ministers  talked  busi- 
ness;—  then  parted,  with  profuse  assurances  of  friendship 
and  esteem,  when  Henry  pro- 
ceeded to  visit  the  Emperor  at 
Gravelines,  and  to  be  won  over 
more  completely  to  the  imperial 
side.  Wolsey  received  the  reve- 
nues of  two  Spanish  bishoprics, 
in  earnest  of  his  greater  expecta- 
tions. In  spite  of  the  Emperor's 
promises,  his  tutor  Adrian  was 
made  pope  upon  the  death  of 
Leo  X. ;  and  when  Adrian  died, 
after  a  short  reign,  Clement  VII. , 
an  Italian  prince,  received  the  tiara  by  favor  of  His  Imperial 
Majesty. 

252.  Nevertheless,  Henry  made  a  new  league  with  Charles 
and  the  Constable  de  Bourbon,  a  great  feudatory  of  Francis, 
to  divide  the  French  kingdom  among  them.  The  misfortunes 
of  Francis  seemed  complete  when,  in  1525,  he  was  taken 
prisoner  before  Pavia  and  conveyed  into  Spain.  His  two 
enemies  were  at  first  inclined  to  use  their  advantage  most 
ungenerously.  Henry  proposed  to  be  crowned  at  Paris,  like 
the  fifth  and  sixth  English  kings  of  his  name ;  and  afterward 
to  accompany  the  Emperor  to  Rome,  where  Charles,  like  his 
great  namesake  seven  hundred  years  before,  might  receive 
the  diadem  of  the  Caesars.  But  the  Emperor  was  too  cau- 
tious to  engage  in  so  wild  and  insolent  a  scheme.  He  pre- 
ferred to  gain  what  he  wanted  from  Francis  through  the  rigor 
of  a  hard  captivity.  Henry  then  assumed  the  better  part 
of  a  mediator,  and  through  his  good  offices  a  peace  was  con- 
cluded which  secured  the  liberty  of  Francis, 

253.  About  this  time  a  doubt  arose  in  the  King's  mind, 
which  led  to  a  greater  revolution  than  ever  sprang  from  a 
royal   whim   before.     According   to    Romish   canons,  his 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  152J. 


marriage  with  his  brother's  widow  (§  241)  was  unlawful. 
All  the  sons  born  of  this  marriage  had  died  in  infancy;  and 
only  a  sickly  daughter,  the  Princess  Mary,  survived.  Now, 
there  was  no  precedent*  for  the  succession  of  a  woman  to 
the  English  throne;  and  it  was  doubtful,  even  if  Mary's  life 
were  spared,  whether  the  nation  would  accept  her  as  its  sov- 
ereign. The  King's  superstition  saw  in  the  loss  of  his  chil- 
dren a  sure  mark  of  the  wrath  of  Heaven.  Wolsey's  artful 
counsels  deepened  his  fears,  if  they  had  not  first  excited 
them ;  for  the  Cardinal  hated  the  Spanish  party,  of  which 
Queen  Catherine  was  the  head,  and  coveted  the  glory  of  ar- 
ranging a  new  marriage  for  his  master  with  some  French 
princess.  But  Henry  made  his  own  choice,  without  the  aid 
of  his  minister  or  even  the  permission  of  the  Pope.  Anne 
Boleyn,  a  young  lady  of  the  Queen's  household,  had  won 
his  admiration,  and  decided  him  in  favor  of  the  divorce. 

254.  Pope  Clement  was  in  a  painful  dilemma.  If  he  per- 
mitted Henry  to  break  his  marriage  with  Catherine,  he  would 
offend  the  Emperor  Charles,  her  nephew ;  and  Germany  and 
the  Low  Countries  were  almost  sure  to  become  Protestant. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  forbade  the  divorce,  both  England 
and  France  might  separate  themselves  from  the  Roman 
Church;  for  all  these  countries  were  full  of  secret  or  open 
adherents  of  the  reformed  doctrines  of  Luther.  At  length, 
cardinals  Wolsey  and  Campeggio  were  appointed  to  try  the 
cause  in  England.  But,  under  the  influence  of  the  Emperor, 
the  Pope  changed  his  mind,  and  cited  the  King  and  Queen 
of  England  to  appear  at  Rome  and  plead  their  respective 
causes  at  his  bar. 

255.  The  fall  of  Wolsey  soon  followed.  The  Great  Seal 
was  taken  from  him  and  intrusted  to  Sir  Thomas  More.  His 
palaces,  with  their  gorgeous  plate  and  furniture,  were  seized 


•  Matilda  ($j  118,  122)  had  been  rejected  by  a  majority  of  the 
nation. 


A.  D.  1529.] 


ROYAL  SUPREMACY. 


137 


for  the  King's  own  use.  He  was  impeached  on  forty-four 
charges,  and  sentenced  to  forfeiture  of  lands  and  goods,  with 
imprisonment  of  his  person.  But  the  King  pardoned  all  his 
offenses  and  ordered  him  to  retire  to  his  archbishopric,  the 
only  dignity  he  retained.  The  next  year,  his  enemies  caused 
him  to  be  arrested  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  for  setting  up 
a  foreign  court  in  the  King's  dominions ;  but  on 

&  .  .  Nov.,  1530. 

his  way  to  London,  he  died  at  Leicester  Abbey. 
Before  his  death  he  uttered  these  memorable  words :  '  '  Had 
I  but  served  God  as  diligently  as  I  have  served  the  King, 
He  would  not  have  given  me  over  in  my  gray  hairs." 

256.  King  Henry  in  his  early  years  had  won  the  proud 
title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  by  writing  a  book  against 
Luther ;  and  he  was  now  ashamed  to  further  the  Reformation 
by  breaking  his  connection  with  the  Pope.  Thomas  Cran- 
mer,  a  Cambridge  scholar,  had  the  good  fortune  to  suggest 
a  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  He  proposed  to  lay  before  all 
the  universities  of  Europe  the  question,  "  May  a  man  marry 
his  brother's  widow?"  If  they  answered  Yes,  the  King's 
conscience  would  be  relieved;  if  they  counseled  divorce,  the 
Pope  would  be  unable  to  resist  their  judgment.  The  opinion 
of  the  learned  men  was  found  to  be  against  the  King's  wishes ; 
but,  meanwhile,  the  course  of  events  in  England,  together 
with  the  bold  advice  of  Thomas  Cromwell,  his  new  secretary 
of  state,  led  him  to  more  decisive  action. 

257.  The  Parliament  which  met  in  1529  declared  the  whole 
Church  guilty  of  the  crime  for  which  Wolsey  had  been  con- 
demned, namely,  of  yielding  supreme  obedience  to  a  foreign 
power.  The  clergy  only  obtained  pardon  by  paying  an  enor- 
mous fine,  and  acknowledging  the  King's  supremacy  over  the 
Church.  The  Pope's  claim  to  tribute  and  obedience  was  an- 
nulled; monasteries  were  subjected  to  inspection  and  control 
by  the  King's  officers ;  bishops  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
clergy  attached  to  their  cathedrals,  upon  receiving  letters  of 
permission  from  the  King. 

Eng. — 12. 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1533. 


258.  All  who  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  the  King's 
supremacy,  or  to  admit  the  lawfulness  of  his  divorce  and  re- 
marriage, were  declared  traitors.  Under  this  act  Bishop 
Fisher,  of  Rochester,  and  Sir  Thomas  More  *  —  two  of  the 
King's  most  noble  and  faithful  servants  —  were  beheaded  for 
high  treason.  The  monks  of  the  Charter-house,  in  London, — 
a  brotherhood  celebrated,  in  that  corrupt  age,  for  the  purity 
and  beneficence  of  their  lives,  —  either  were  executed  upon 
the  gallows  or  died  of  fever  and  starvation  in  a  loathsome 
imprisonment.  By  the  same  parliament,  King  Henry's  mar- 
riage with  Catherine  of  Aragon  was  annulled,  and  that  with 
Anne  Boleyn  acknowledged  and  confirmed.  Cranmer,  now 
Primate  of  England  by  the  King's  appointment,  had  already 
pronounced  the  same  decision  in  ecclesiastical  court.  In 
1533,  the  birth  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  was  celebrated  with 
great  splendor  and  rejoicings. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Popularity  of  Henry  VIIT.  Is  outwitted  by  the  King  of  Spain  in 
his  war  with  France.  Death  of  James  IV.,  at  Flodden  Field,  is  fol- 
lowed by  peace  with  Scotland.  Power  and  wealth  of  Wolsey ;  his 
patronage  of  the  New  Learning.  Immense  dominion  of  Charles  V. 
Field  of  Cloth  of  Gold  followed  by  visit  of  the  English  King  to  the 
Emperor.  Henry  seeks  a  divorce  from  Catherine  of  Aragon,  which 
Pope  Clement  dares  neither  grant  nor  refuse.  Fall  and  death  of 
Wolsey.  Cranmer  furthers  the  divorce  ;  is  rewarded  with  archbishop- 
ric of  Canterbury.  Parliament  declares  the  King  to  be  head  of  the 
Church. 


•  More  was  one  of  the  most  admirable  men  of  his  time,  whether 
we  regard  his  bright  genius,  his  wonderful  learning,  his  ardent  piety, 
or  the  sweetness  of  his  domestic  life.  In  his  romance  of  Utopia  or 
Nowhere'^  he  depicts  a  perfect  society,  and  satirizes  the  faults  and  op- 
pressions of  his  own  age  and  country. 


III.  REIGN  OF  HENRY  VIII. 


The  Chained  Bible. 


HE  commissioners  charged  by  the 
King  with  a  visitation  of  the  mon- 
asteries, reported  a  frightful  amount 
of  wickedness  carried  on  under 
cover  of  religious  professions.  The 
story  was  doubtless  exaggerated,  in 
order  to  reconcile  the  people  to  the 
stern  measure  which  Cromwell,  now 
vicar-general,  had  resolved  upon; 
but  as  the  "  Black  Book"  was  read 
in  Parliament,  cries  of  "Down 
with  them !  down  with  them  [the 
monasteries] ! "  rose  from  all  sides. 
Within  two  years,  all  the  ' '  religious 
houses  "  in  England  were  closed  by 
act  of  Parliament.  All  their  rentals, 
gold,  silver,  and  other  property  were 
confiscated.  The  abbots  were  pen- 
sioned, and  part  of  the  revenues 
were  expended  in  founding  schools, 
colleges,  and  six  new  bishoprics; 
but  a  large  part  went  to  enrich  the 
King's  courtiers  and  favorites. 


260.  Much  discontent  and  some  disorder  followed  the  sup- 
pression of  the  monasteries.  Their  bounty  had  fed  armies  of 
paupers,  who  no  more  knew  how  to  earn  an  honest  living 
than  did  the  monks  themselves.  Iii  the  northern  counties, 
40,000  persons  undertook  what  they  called  a  Pilgrimage  of 
Grace.  All  the  towns  and  castles  north  of  the  Humber  fell 
into  their  hands.  A  "Parliament  of  the  North"  met  at 
Pomfret,  demanded  reunion  with  Rome,  the  restoration  of 

(i39) 


[A.  D.  1536. 


the  Princess  Mary  to  her  rights  as  heiress  to  the  crown,  and 
the  fall  of  Cromwell.  The  rebellion  was  put  down  with  ter- 
rible cruelty.  Four  great  abbots  were  hanged,  and  the  last 
of  the  old  feudal  chiefs  fell  by  the  headsman's  ax.  The  ten 
years  of  Thomas  Cromwell's  administration 
.1530  r54  ]iave  Deen  wen  called  the  English  Reign  of 
Terror.  Opinion  itself  was  made  treason ;  and  a  man's  re- 
fusal to  reveal  his  inmost  thoughts  was  regarded  as  evidence 
of  crime. 

261.  Even  royal  blood  was  not  spared.  The  venerable 
Countess  of  Salisbury,  niece  of  Edward  IV.  (Table,  p.  119), 
and  granddaughter  of  the  "  King-maker,"  was  forced  to  lay 
her  gray  head  upon  the  block,  no  less  than  her  son,  and  their 
cousin  the  Marquis  of  Exeter.  Poor  Queen  Anne,  three  years 
from  her  coronation,  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  on  charges 
of  treason  and  unfaithfulness;  and  the  same  archbishop  who 
had  confirmed  her  marriage,  now  pronounced  it  null.  She 
was  beheaded;  and,  three  days  afterward,  the  King  married 
Jane  Seymour,  lately  an  attendant  of  Anne.  In  October  of 
the  next  year,  the  whole  nation  rejoiced  in  the  birth  of  a 
prince,  who  received  the  favorite  name  of  Edward ;  but  their 
joy  was  clouded  by  the  Queen's  death,  some  weeks  later. 

262.  As  the  Protestant  influence  just  now  prevailed  at 
court,  a  new  royal  marriage  with  Anne,  sister  of  the  Duke 
of  Cleves,  Berg,  and  Jliliers,  on  the  Lower  Rhine,  was  soon 
negotiated.  But  in  marrying  to  please  his  courtiers,  the  King 
failed  to  please  himself ;  and  his  displeasure  extended  to 
Cromwell,  the  chief  promoter  of  the  alliance.  The  old  nobles 
hated  Cromwell  as  a  low-born  upstart,  and  the  Catholics,  as 
the  destroyer  of  the  monasteries.  He  was  accused  of  heresy 
and  treason ;  and  though  neither  charge  could  be  proven, 
he  was  beheaded  without  a  hearing,  —  "judged,"  said  the 
Council,  "by  the  bloody  laws  he  has  himself  made." 

263.  The  Protestant  marriage  was  annulled;  Anne  meekly 
accepted  a  home  and  revenues  in  England,  and  outlived  the 


A.  D.  1542.]         MARY,   QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 


141 


A.  D. 


King  by  ten  years.  The  fifth  alliance  of  this  much  married 
monarch  was  still  less  fortunate.  Catherine  Howard,  a  niece 
of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  won  his  devoted  affection;  but  it 
was  discovered  that  not  only  before  but  even  after  her  mar- 
riage, her  conduct  had  been  shamefully  bad.  The 
King  was  compelled  to  sign  a  warrant  for  her  ex- 
ecution on  Tower  Hill,  together  with  an  accomplice  who  had 
been  the  chief  accuser  of  Anne  Boleyn. 

264.  During  this  year,  King 
James  V.  of  Scotland,  a  nephew 
of  King  Henry  (§§  241,  246), 
died,  leaving  only  an  infant 
daughter  to  inherit  his  crown. 
War  was  then  raging  between 
the  two  kingdoms,  and  the 
King's  death  was  occasioned 
in  no  small  degree  by  his  vex- 
ation at  his  army's  defeat  on 
Solway  Moss.  But  Henry,  see- 
ing the  favorable  chance  for 
uniting  the  whole  island  under 
one  crown,  now  made  peace 
and  proposed  to  marry  his  son 
Edward  to  the  baby  Queen. 
One  party  among  the  Scottish 
nobles  warmly  favored  this 
match ;  but  the  Catholic  party 
succeeded  in  thwarting  it  and 
forming  a  close  alliance  with 
the  King  of  France. 

Suit  of  Armor. 

265.  Enraged  at  his  failure, 

Henry  now  allied  himself  with  the  Emperor,  and,  crossing 
the  Channel  in  great  force,  besieged  and  captured  Boulogne. 
But  Charles,  as  soon  as  he  had  gained  his  own  purposes, 
made  a  treaty  with  Francis,  without  so  much  as  mentioning 


[42 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1547. 


his  English  ally.  Two  years  later,  a  peace  with  France  and 
Scotland  closed  this  expensive  and  inglorious  war. 

266.  Henry's  persecutions  were  distributed  with  great  im- 
partiality between  the  Catholics,  who  denied  his  supremacy, 
and  the  Protestants,  who  disbelieved  his  creed.  Anne  Ascue, 
a  lady  of  the  court,  was  burnt  to  death  for  denying  the  Real 
Presence  in  the  sacrament.  Even  Catherine  Parr,  the  King's 
sixth  and  last  wife,  nearly  lost  her  head  by  a  theological  dis- 
cussion ;  but  her  ready  submission  saved  her  life.  As  the 
King's  health  declined,  his  temper  became  more  despotic 
than  ever.  He  ordered  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  his  accom- 
plished son,  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  to  prison  on  a  charge  of  as- 
piring to  the  crown.  Surrey  was  beheaded,  and  his  father's 
death-warrant  was  already  signed,  when  the  King  himself 
died,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age  and  the  thirty-eighth 
of  his  reign. 

267.  The  capricious  and  tyrannical  acts  which  have  dark- 
ened Henry's  name,  were  performed  during  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life.  If  he  had  died  at  thirty-six,  he  would 
doubtless  have  ranked  in  history  among  the  wisest  and  best 
of  kings.  But  the  possession  of  undisputed  power  gradually 
turned  his  strong  will  into  blind  obstinacy,  his  wisdom  into 
dogmatism,  and  even  his  religious  sense  of  responsibility  for 
the  right  belief  of  his  subjects,  into  a  motive  for  atrocious 
persecutions.  His  life-long  rival,  Francis  I.,  died  the  same 
year,  and  was  succeeded  on  the  French  throne  by  his  son, 
Henry  II. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Parliament  dissolves  the  monasteries.  Insurrection  in  the  north. 
Cromwell's  Reign  of  Terror ;  his  disgrace  and  execution.  The  King 
marries  Anne  Boleyn,  Jane  Seymour,  Anne  of  Cleves,  Catherine 
Howard;  the  first  and  last  are  beheaded;  Catherine  Parr  survives 
him.  Death  of  James  V.  of  Scotland.  Proposed  marriage  of  his  in- 
fant daughter  with  Prince  Edward  of  England.  Henry  VIII.  and  his 
rival,  Francis  I.  of  France,  die  the  same  year. 


IV.   EDWARD  VI.  —  MARY  I. 


Costume  in  Edward's  Reign. 


\f  ING  Edward  VI.  (A.  D.  1547- 
1553)  at  his  accession  was  only 
nine  years  old.  His  father 
had,  therefore,  appointed  a 
Council  of  Regency  under 
the  Earl  of  Hertford,  after- 
ward Duke  of  Somerset,  who, 
being  the  young  King's  uncle 
by  the  mother's  side,  might  be 
supposed  to  have  the  strong- 
est interest  in  his  safety. 
Hertford  immediately  assumed 
royal  power,  with  the  title  of 
Protector  of  the  Kingdom, 
and  formed  a  new  Council, 
from  which  the  adherents  of 
the  Roman  Church  were  wholly  excluded.  Favoring  the  re- 
formed doctrines,  Somerset  took  care  that  the  young  King's 
teachers  should  be  of  the  same  opinions;  and  it  was  his  wish 
that,  without  violent  changes  or  persecutions,  England  should 
become  Protestant.  His  chief  opponent,  Gardiner,  Bishop 
of  Winchester,  was  thrown  into  prison.  A  commission  of 
clergy,  with  Archbishop  Cranmer  at  its  head,  compiled  a 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  the  same,  but  for  a  few  slight 
alterations,  as  that  now  used  in  England. 

269.  The  Reformation  was  going  on  with  great  vigor  in 
Scotland,  where  the  Protestants  favored  the  English  alli- 
ance, while  the  Catholics  closely  allied  themselves  with  the 
French.  Somerset  now  invaded  Scotland  with  a  great  fleet 
and  army,  to  put  down  the  French  party  and  insist  upon 

(i43) 


144 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR, 


[A.  D.  1547. 


the  marriage  of  little  Queen  Mary  with  the  young  King  of 
England.  The  Scots  in  general  ' '  were  not  averse  to  the 
match,  but  they  liked  not  the  manner  of  the  wooing." 

Somerset  gained  a  victory  at  Pinkie,  but  was 
ep  .,  1547-      recalled  into  England  before  he  could  push  his 
advantage;  and  Mary  was  immediately  sent  over  to  France 
and  betrothed  to  the  heir  of  that  kingdom. 

270.  The  Protector's  talents  were  not  equal  to  his  ambi- 
tion, and  he  was  soon  alarmed  by  the  aggrandizement  of  his 
brother,  Lord  Seymour.  This  brilliant  courtier  had  prevailed 
upon  Queen  Catherine  (§  266)  to  marry  him  in  the  early 
days  of  her  widowhood;  and  after  her  death,  he  had  the 
presumption  to  pay  his  addresses  to  the  Princess  Elizabeth. 
He  openly  opposed  his  brother's  authority,  and  gathered 
about  himself  a  powerful  party  of  noblemen.  The  Earl  of 
Warwick  —  son  of  that  Dudley  who  served  Henry  VII.  so 
dishonorably  (§  242)  —  made  all  the  mischief  he  could  be- 
tween the  brothers,  hoping  to  ruin  both  and  raise  himself. 
At  length,  Seymour  was  attainted  of  high  treason,  and  exe- 
cuted on  Tower  Hill,  March,  1549. 

271.  Somerset  himself  did  not  long  keep  his  high  place. 
His  proceedings  against  the  Romish  worship  offended  a  great 
mass  of  the  people.  The  new  proprietors  of  the  abbey  lands 
were  harder  landlords  than  the  monks  had  been ;  and  as  most 
of  them  spent  their  incomes  in  London,  many  a  country 
region  missed  its  ever-flowing  fountain  of  charity.  No  doubt 
many  paupers  were  reclaimed  to  honest  industry ;  but  sudden 
and  sweeping  changes  always  involve  suffering.  Riots  broke 
out  in  several  counties.  They  were  sternly  suppressed  by 
the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  thereby  increased  his  fame  and 
power.  Somerset  was  deprived  of  all  his  offices,  imprisoned, 
and  heavily  fined.  Three  years  afterward  he  was  again  ar- 
rested, tried  for  treason,  and  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill. 

272.  Warwick  was  now  at  the  head  of  affairs.  His  ambi- 
tion knew  no  bounds.    Not  content  with  obtaining  from  the 


A.  D.  1553  ] 


LADY  JANE  GREY. 


145 


King  the  vast  earldom  of  Northumberland  and  the  title  of 
duke,  he  desired  to  raise  his  descendants  to  the  throne. 
The  young  King's  health  was  declining.  Northumberland, 
who  had  gained  his  entire  confidence,  persuaded  him  to  de- 
prive his  two  sisters  (§§  253,  258)  of  their  succession  to  the 
crown,  and  declare  his  cousin,  Lady  Jane  Grey,*  the  lawful 
heir.  It  was  true  that  the  two  royal  princesses  had,  at  differ- 
ent times,  been  expressly  excluded  from  the  hope  of  suc- 
cession;  but  it  was  also  true  that  Parliament  had  annulled 
this  exclusion,  and  granted  King  Henry  VIII.  the  power  of 
naming  his  heirs. 

273.  Another  essential  part  of  Northumberland's  scheme 
was  the  marriage  of  his  own  son,  Guilford  Dudley,  with  the 
Lady  Jane.  This  being  completed,  Edward's  health  declined 
more  rapidly  than  ever.  Northumberland  removed  all  his 
physicians,  and  committed  him  to  the  care  of  an  ignorant 
woman  who  promised  a  wonderful  and  speedy  cure.  Under 
her  treatment  he  died,  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  age  and 
the  seventh  of  his  reign.  England  sincerely  mourned  this 
amiable  boy,  whose  childish  virtues  had  excited  hopes  of  a 
happy  reign. 

274.  Before  his  death  was  suffered  to  be  known,  North- 
umberland sent  a  message  to  the  Princess  Mary,  desiring 
her  presence  during  her  brother's  last  hours.  His  plan  was 
to  have  her  within  his  own  control.  But  Mary  was  oppor- 
tunely warned;  and,  retiring  into  Suffolk,  sent  orders  to  the 
Council  to  proclaim  her  queen.  Northumberland  could  no 
longer  delay  his  desperate  attempt.  With  great  difficulty  he 
prevailed  upon  his  daughter-in-law  to  be  crowned.  She  plead 
the  better  claim  of  her  cousins  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  or  even 

*  Jane  Grey  was  a  granddaughter  of  Mary,  Duchess  of  Suffolk 
(\  246),  sister  of  King  Henry  VIII.  Queen  Mary  of  Scotland  was 
granddaughter  of  Henry's  elder  sister,  Margaret ;  but  he  had  by  his 
will  excluded  her  heirs,  and  placed  the  children  of  his  youngest  and 
favorite  sister  next  after  his  own.     (See  Table,  p.  150.) 

Eng.— 13. 


146 


[A.  D.  1553. 


the  Queen  of  Scots;  but  the  combined  persuasions  of  her 
father,  her  father-in-law,  and  her  husband  overcame  her  scru- 
ples. She  was  proclaimed  in  London,  and  for 
ten  days  a  small  circle  of  immediate  dependents 
regarded  her  as  their  queen.  But  the  people  dreaded  the 
bold  ambition  of  Northumberland,  though  they  loved  the 
gentle  lady  forced  into  treason  against  her  will;  and  when 
Mary  Tudor  arrived  in  the  capital,  she  was  received  with 
joyful  demonstrations  of  loyalty.  Her  sister  came  to  meet 
her  with  a  thousand  horsemen,  whom  she  had  mustered  in 
support  of  their  common  cause. 

275.  Northumberland  and  two  of  his  accomplices  in  the 
treason  were  tried,  condemned,  and  executed.  The  youth 
and  innocence  of  Lady  Jane  and  her  husband  saved  their 
lives  for  a  time.  Associating  all  the  wrongs  and  sorrows  of 
her  childhood  with  the  Protestant  movement,  it  is  not  strange 
that  Queen  Mary  had  derived  from  her  unhappy  mother  a 
fervent  zeal  for  the  Roman  Church,  and  a  fierce  prejudice 
against  the  Reformers.  Her  first  Parliament  was  opened 
with  a  Latin  mass,  though  this  was  contrary  to  laws  still  in 
force;  and  the  same  assembly  repealed  all  the  statutes  of 
King  Edward  concerning  religion* 

276.  The  Queen  by  her  own  authority  restored  Gardiner, 
Bonner,  Tonstall,  and  others  who  had  been  deprived  of  their 
bishoprics  by  her  brother's  council,  and  threw  the  Archbishop 
of  York  and  five  other  prelates  into  prison.  All  clergymen 
were  ordered  to  abstain  from  preaching,  until  each  should 
receive  a  special  license  from  her  government ;  and  a  large 
number  were  deprived  of  their  livings.  She  sent  ambassadors 
to  the  Pope,  assuring  him  of  her  desire  to  restore  her  kingdom 
to  its  old  allegiance  to  Rome. 

277.  As  soon  as  the  Emperor  Charles  heard  that  his  cousin 
was  now  Queen  of  England,  he  sent  to  propose  to  her  a 
marriage  with  his  son  Philip ;  and  though  nearly  all  her 
counselors  opposed  the  match,  Mary  willingly  consented. 


A.  D.  1554.] 


MARY  AND  PHILIP. 


H7 


Few  of  all  the  foreign  marriages  of  her  sovereigns  had  been 
to  the  advantage  of  England;  and  the  wisest  Englishmen 
especially  dreaded  the  enormous  power  of  Spain,  whose  king 
already  governed  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  Netherlands,  and 
was  believed  to  be  aiming  at  universal  empire.  Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt  and  others  even  organized  a  rebellion,  with  the  design 
to  place  Lady  Jane  Grey  upon  the  throne.  It  failed;  and 
that  guiltless  lady,  with  her  husband  and  her  father,  now 
suffered  the  extreme  penalty  of  treason. 

278.  King*  Philip  arrived  and  was  married  at  Winchester 
in  July,  1554.  His  cold  and  reserved  demeanor  did  not 
lessen  the  dislike  which  had  been  felt  toward  the  marriage; 
though  a  long  train  of  wagon-loads  of  Spanish  gold  and 
silver,  which  preceded  him  into  London,  may  have  wrought 
a  change  among  the  favored  few.  Upon  one  point  alone 
the  Queen  and  her  husband  were  perfectly  agreed,  —  the 
restoration  of  the  Roman  Church,  with  all  its  claims  and 
usages.  The  Queen's  cousin,  Cardinal  Pole,  arrived  in 
England  as  papal  legate,  and  was  welcomed  with  great 
solemnity  by  Parliament.  To  his  invitation  to  reconcile 
themselves  and  the  kingdom  with  the  ancient  Church,  both 
Houses  replied  with  compliant  addresses;  and 

then  Lords  and  Commons,  all  on  their  knees, 
received  absolution  and  forgiveness,  in  the  Pope's  name,  for 
the  sin  of  the  nation  in  asserting  its  independence,  and  were 
tenderly  received  back  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church. 

279.  Cardinal  Pole  was  a  man  of  gentle  and  Christian 
disposition ;  and  while  helping  to  restore  ancient  usages,  he 
constantly  besought  mercy  toward  the  unreconciled.  But  the 
temper  of  Philip  and  Mary  inclined  them  rather  toward  the 
harsh  counsels  of  Gardiner,  who  committed  to  the  flames 
England's  most  holy  and  venerable  men.    Within  three 


*  He  had  recently  been  made  King  of  Naples,  that  his  rank  might 
equal  that  of  his  bride. 


148 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1555. 


years,  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  persons  were  burnt  to 
death,  beside  multitudes  who  suffered  fines,  imprisonments, 
and  lesser  penalties.  No  regular  form  of  trial  was  observed : 
victims  were  arrested  on  suspicion;  and  if  they  refused  to 
sign  certain  articles,  were  at  once  condemned  to  death.  Five 
bishops,  twenty-one  clergymen,  private  gentlemen,  tradesmen, 
farmers,  servants,  and  day-laborers,  with  fifty-five  women  and 
four  children,  made  up  the  dismal  list.  Two  good  bishops, 
Ridley  and  Latimer,  suffered  together  in  Oxford.  Tied  to 
the  stake  and  surrounded  by  the  blazing  fagots,  Latimer  ex- 
claimed, "Be  of  good  cheer,  Brother  Ridley;  we  shall  this 
day  light  such  a  candle,  by  God's  grace,  in  England,  as  I 
trust  shall  never  be  put  out." 

280.  Highest  in  rank,  though  not  in  character,  of  all  the 
victims,  was  Archbishop  Cranmer.  The  Queen  hated  him 
for  having  dissolved  the  marriage  of  her  parents,  and  he  was 
already  justly  imprisoned  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  pro- 
claiming Lady  Jane  Grey ;  but  the  court,  wishing  to  dishonor 
him  before  the  people,  chose  to  try  him  for  heresy  rather 
than  for  treason.  He  was  sentenced  to  death;  but  in  his 
prison  messengers  came  to  him,  offering  the  continuance  of 
all  his  honors  and  dignities,  on  condition  of  his  recanting  his 
heretical  doctrines.  In  a  moment  of  weakness  the  old  man 
yielded,  and  put  his  name  to  a  paper  affirming  the  Pope's 
supremacy  in  England,  and  acknowledging  the  Real  Presence 
in  the  wafer  of  the  communion. 

This  humiliation  was  in  vain :  he  was  required  to  repeat 
his  recantation  in  public,  and  then  be  carried  to  execution. 
In  the  prospect  of  death  his  strength  returned.  He  bewailed 
the  greatest  error  of  his  life,  that  of  admitting  through  cow- 
ardice what  he  knew  to  be  false;  and  declared  that  as  his 
right  hand  had  been  the  instrument  of  offense,  it  should  first 
be  consumed  in  the  flames.  He  was  burned  at  Oxford,  and 
Cardinal  Pole  became  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  his  place. 

281    Philip,  disgusted  by  the  enmity  and  suspicion  he  in- 


A.  D.  1558.] 


DEATH  OF  MARY. 


149 


spired,  and  wearied  of  his  wife's  jealous  fondness,  departed 
to  Flanders.  By  his  father's  abdication,  he  was  now  made 
Lord  of  the  Netherlands,  King  of  Spain,  and  master  of  all 
the  treasures  of  the  newly  discovered  American  Continent. 
He  was  soon  involved  in  a  war  with  France,  in  which  he 
demanded  his  wife's  aid.  Mary  warmly  favored  his  plans, 
but  Parliament  and  people,  as  well  as  her  wisest  counselors, 
as  strenuously  opposed  them.  The  Queen  succeeded  in  send- 
ing to  Flanders  an  army  of  10,000  men;  and  England  had 
all  the  loss  with  none  of  the  gain  or  glory  of  the  campaign. 
Calais,  "the  brightest  jewel  in  her  crown,"- — the  last  remain- 
ing trophy  of  Edward  III,  (§§  180,  181),  —  was  surprised 
and  taken  by  the  Duke  of  Guise.  The  people  were  enraged 
at  the  loss  of  their  last  foothold  on  the  Continent;  and  the 
poor  Queen,  now  pining  away  with  illness  and  her  husband's 
neglect,  declared  that  after  her  death  "Calais"  would  be 
found  written  on  her  heart. 

282.  Vexation  of  mind,  added  to  feebleness  of  body,  threw 
her  into  a  fever  of  which  she  died,  Nov.,  1558,  after  a  reign 
of  five  years.  It  is  impossible  not  to  pity  this  unhappy  queen, 
even  while  we  record  her  fatal  errors.  She  was  a  kind  mis- 
tress to  her  immediate  household;  and  her  savage  persecu- 
tions sprang  from  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty.  Her  Spanish 
grandmother,  Isabella,  whom  Americans  revere  as  the  mu- 
nificent patroness  of  Columbus,  caused  or  consented  to  the 
murder  of  a  far  greater  number  of  her  subjects  for  conscience' 
sake.  It  is  the  contrast  of  the  bigotry  of  that  age  with  the 
freedom  which  England  has  ever  since  enjoyed,  that  lends 
the  blackest  shades  to  the  short  and  disastrous  reign  of  Mary. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Edward  VI.  being  a  minor,  his  uncle  is  Protector  of  the  Kingdom. 
Somerset  establishes  the  Reformed  Church  of  England;  invades  Scot- 
land ;  Queen  Mary  is  sent  to  France.  Seymour,  becoming  too  ambi- 
tious, is  beheaded.    Discontent  of  the  people  with  sudden  religious 


15° 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR, 


changes.  Fall  and  execution  of  Somerset.  Earl  of  Warwick  gains 
power;  becomes  Duke  of  Northumberland;  plots  to  place  his  daughter- 
in-law  upon  the  throne.  Upon  death  of  Edward,  Lady  Jane  Grey  is 
proclaimed,  and  reigns  ten  days  over  a  small  court. 

Mary  Tudor  is  crowned ;  Northumberland  is  beheaded  for  treason. 
Mary  restores  Romish  bishops  and  clergy ;  marries  her  cousin  Philip 
of  Spain.  Popular  hatred  of  the  match  occasions  Wyatt's  rebellion 
and  Jane  Grey's  death.  Cardinal  Pole  brings  the  Pope's  pardon  and 
reconciliation  ;  counsels  mercy,  but  the  Queen  persecutes  relentlessly. 
Ridley,  Latimer,  and  Cranmer  are  burnt  at  Oxford.  Philip  drags 
England  into  war  with  France,  in  which  Calais  is  lost.  Mary  dies 
after  five  years'  reign. 


Descendants  of  Henry  Seventh. 


Henry  VII. 
I 


I  I  I 

Margaret,  mar.  i,    mar.  •?.,  Earl  of  Angus.    Henry  VIII.,  Mary,  mar.  2, 


James  IV.  of  Scotland. 


J* 


;  V.  of  Scotland. 


Margaret  m. 
Earl  of  Lennox. 


Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  m.  2,  Henry  Stuart, 
beheaded,  1587,  Lord  Darnley. 

I  I 
I 

James  VI.  of 
Scotland  and 
James  I.  of 
England.     (Seep.  206.) 


Charles,  Duke  of  Suffolk. 
I 

Frances,  mar. 

Henry  Grey,  D.  of  Suffolk. 

Jane  Grey. 


1  I-  I 

m.  1,  Catherine  of  Aragon.      m.  2,  Anne  Boleyn.     m.  3,  Jane  Seymour. 

I  I 


Mary  m. 
Philip  of  Spain. 


Elizabeth. 


Edward  VI. 


V.  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


ELIZABETH  (A.  D.  1558-1603)  came 
to  the  throne  amid  an  outburst  of 
popular  delight,  which  was  undis- 
guised even  by  decent  respect  for 
Queen  Mary's  unhappy  memory. 
The  new  Queen  was  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  and  to  her  mother's 
beauty  and  gaiety  of  disposition 
added  her  father's  frank  and  hearty 
address,  no  less  than  his  energetic 
intellect,  dauntless  courage,  and 
imperious  will.  She  was  an  ac- 
complished scholar  and  a  fine 
musician,  while  she  loved  the 
healthful  sports  of  archery  and 
horsemanship. 

284.  England  was  reduced  to 
the  deepest  humiliation,  through 
defeat  abroad  and  misgovernment 
at  home;  but  Europe  soon  felt 
that  a  strong  hand  was  again  at  her  helm.  Elizabeth  called 
the  wisest  men  to  her  councils,  of  whom  Bacon,  Walsingham, 
and  Burleigh  enjoyed  the  greatest  measure  of  her  confidence. 
Her  first  Parliament  re-enacted  all  the  laws  of  Edward  VI. 
concerning  religion  (§  268),  and  made  the  Church  of  England 
nearly  what  it  is  to-day.  The  Act  of  Supremacy  required  all 
bishops,  clergy,  and  officers  of  the  crown  to  take  an  oath 
acknowledging  the  Queen  as  head  of  the  Church;  and  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  forbade  all  religious  services  except  those 
established  by  law.    All  the  bishops  but  one  refused  the  oath, 

( 151 ) 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1559. 


and  were  removed  from  their  sees;  but  the  parish  priests, 
with  few  exceptions,  accepted  the  new  order.  The  Scriptures 
were  ordered  to  be  read  raid  prayers  offered  in  the  English 
tongue.  Six  great  Bibles  were  placed  in  different  parts  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral;  and  these  were  always  surrounded  by 
an  eager  crowd,  whenever  a  reader  could  be  found. 

285.  Philip  of  Spain  no  sooner  heard  of  his  wife's  death 
than  he  proposed  to  marry  her  sister.  But  Elizabeth  too 
well  knew  the  aversion  of  her  people  to  the  Spanish  match; 
and,  besides,  she  was  now  in  the  same  relation  to  Philip  that 
her  father  had  been  to  Catherine  of  Aragon  upon  the  death 
of  his  brother  Arthur  (§§  241,  253).  The  very  ground  of 
her  mother's  claim  as  wife,  and  her  own  as  queen,  was  the 


Crown  Piece. 


decision  that  such  a  marriage  was  unlawful.  Not  willing, 
however,  to  offend  the  greatest  monarch  in  Christendom, 
she  returned  a  polite  but  evasive  answer,  and  soon  afterward 
announced  to  Parliament  her  determination  to  live  and  die 
unmarried.  And  though  many  royal  and  princely  suitors 
sought  her  hand  at  various  times,  Elizabeth  never  wavered 
long  from  this  decision. 

286.  Important  changes  were  taking  place  in  Scotland : 
the  Reformation  was  rapidly  advancing,  and  the  reformers 


A.  D.  1561  ]    REFORMATION  IN  SCOTLAND, 


153 


had  leagued  themselves  under  the  name  of  the  "Congrega- 
tion." Their  Queen  was  now  wife  of  the  Dauphin,  who,  by 
his  father's  death  in  1559,  became  King  Francis  II.  of  France. 
The  young  sovereigns  bore  upon  their  arms  and  equipage  the 
title  of  "  King  and  Queen  of  England,"  as  well  as  "of  France 
and  Scotland  " ;  and  it  was  evident  that  they  would  seize  the 
first  occasion  to  dispute  Elizabeth's  title  to  the  crown  she 
wore.  In  1559,  the  "Lords  of  the  Congregation,"  encour- 
aged by  Elizabeth,  ordered  all  French  troops  to  quit  Scotland ; 
and  required  Mary  of  Guise,  the  Queen's  mother,  to  resign 
the  regency.  Elizabeth's  fleet  and  army  besieged  and  capt- 
ured Leith;  and  in  the  treaty  which  followed,  the  French 
king  and  queen  were  compelled  to  renounce  all  pretension 
to  the  English  crown.  The  reformers  were  now  supreme  in 
Scotland.  Mass  was  abolished,  and  the  kingdom  threw  off 
its  allegiance  to  the  Pope. 

287.  Queen  Mary's  widowhood  soon  followed  her  eleva- 
tion to  the  French  throne,  and  she  then  resolved  to  return 
to  her  native  land.    But  she  came  as  a  French- 

Aug.,  1561. 

woman, — gay,  brilliant,  accomplished,  and  loving 
the  elegant  dissipations  of  Paris, — quite  indisposed  to  favor 
the  severe  manners  now  prevalent  in  Scotland.  For  the 
Scotch  reformers,  absorbed  in  their  stern  combat  with  Rom- 
ish doctrines,  had  no  tolerance  for  even  the  most  innocent 
practices  associated  with  those  doctrines.  Queen  Mary  sin- 
cerely desired  to  unite  all  parties  in  Scotland  against  both 
French  and  English  influence.  She  gave  her  confidence  to 
the  reformers,  and  commanded  her  people  to  attend  Prot- 
estant worship ;  but,  loving  the  rites  in  which  she  had  been 
educated,  she  insisted  upon  having  mass  said  in  her  private 
chapel.  This  was  abomination  in  the  eyes  of  the  reformers, 
especially  of  John  Knox,  who  had  returned  from  Geneva  full 
of  zeal  for  the  doctrines  of  Calvin,  and  who  now  denounced 
the  Queen  as  Jezebel,  and  her  priests  as  ministers  of  Satan. 

288.  To  unite  all  the  Catholic  forces  in  the  two  kingdoms, 


i54 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1565. 


Mary  suddenly  married  her  cousin  Henry  Stuart,  Lord  Darn- 
ley,  who  was  next  heir,  after  herself,  to  the  crowns  of  both 
Scotland  and  England.  (See  Table,  p.  150.)  He  was  a  weak- 
minded  and  dissolute  youth ;  and  as  soon  as  the  Queen  per- 
ceived his  worthlessness,  she  attempted  to  limit  the  power 
and  revenues  which  she  had  most  lavishly  bestowed  upon 
him.  Darnley  looked  for  revenge ;  and,  breaking  into  the 
Queen's  presence  with  a  crowd  of  young  nobles,  he  mur- 
dered her  Italian  secretary,  Rizzio,  before  her  eyes. 

From  that  moment  Mary  hated  her  husband  more  than 
she  had  before  despised  him.  Her  chief  confidant  was  the 
Earl  of  Bothwell,  a  bold,  bad  man,  by  whose  contrivance 
the  house  in  which  Darnley  was  sleeping  was  blown  up  by 
gunpowder,  and  he  was  slain.  The  dark  suspicion  which 
fell  upon  the  Queen  was  deepened  into  certainty  when  she 
allowed  herself  to  be  carried  away  by  Bothwell,  and  became 
his  wife  scarcely  three  months  from  her  husband's  death. 
She  had  now  wholly  lost  the  respect  of  her  people.  The 
chief  nobles  met  for  the  defense  of  the  kingdom ;  sent  the 
Queen  under  guard  to  Lochleven  Castle,  and  compelled  her 
to  resign  the  crown  in  favor  of  her  infant  son,  James, — her 
half-brother,  the  Earl  of  Murray,  being  regent. 

289.  James  the  Sixth  was  crowned  at  Stirling,  July  29, 
1567,  being  then  thirteen  months  old.  His  mother  soon 
escaped  from  her  prison,  and  raised  an  army  with  which  she 
met  the  forces  of  the  Regent  near  Glasgow.  She  was  de- 
feated and  fled  into  England,  asking  either  a  passage  to 
France  or  aid  in  regaining  her  throne.  To  Elizabeth's  de- 
mand that  the  grave  charges  against  her  character  should 
first  be  cleared  away,  Mary  replied  that  she  would  gladly 
submit  her  cause  to  the  arbitration  of  so  good  a  friend.  But 
when  the  Regent  Murray  laid  before  the  English  commission- 
ers Mary's  own  letters  to  Bothwell,  containing  her  consent 
to  her  husband's  death  and  to  the  Earl's  seizure  of  herself, 
the  Scottish  Queen,  instead  of  attempting  to  disprove  this 


A.  D.  1581.] 


MARY  A  PRISONER. 


155 


evidence,  threw  herself  upon  her  sovereign  rights  and  refused 
to  make  answer  before  any  secular  tribunal. 

290.  She  was  accordingly  held  as  a  prisoner,  and  made  good 
her  word  that  her  captors  4 'should  have  enough  to  do  with 
her."  She  became  the  center  of  innumerable  plots  against  the 
government  and  the  life  of  Elizabeth.  The  Pope  declared 
the  English  Queen  destitute  of  all  title  to  the  crown,  and 
released  her  subjects  from  their  obedience.  Now,  as  Mary 
would  be  Queen  of  England  if  Elizabeth  was  not,  this  was  a 
bold  step  in  Mary's  cause.  Forced  to  it  by  her  enemies, 
Elizabeth  became  the  ally  of  the  Huguenots  in  France  and 
the  burghers  of  the  Netherlands,  whose  freedom  and  prosper- 
ity King  Philip's  generals  were  exterminating  with  fire  and 
sword.  When  Antwerp,  the  chief  market  and  banking  center 
of  Europe,  was  taken  and  destroyed,  one-third  of  its  manu- 
facturers and  merchants  removed  to  London,  which  rose  at 
once  to  the  foremost  rank  among  commercial  cities. 

291.  To  strike  a  deadly  blow  at  the  power  of  Philip, 
Francis  Drake,  a  bold  English  seaman,  was  permitted  to 
cruise  along  the  coasts  of  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America, 
and  waylay  the  treasure-laden  galleons  which  sailed  yearly 
from  Lima  to  Cadiz.  This  was  piracy,  for  Philip  and  Eliza- 
beth were  nominally  at  peace;  but  it  was  amply  offset  by 
Philip's  secret  plots.  Students  in  the  English  colleges  of 
Douay  and  Rheims  were  taught  that  the  murder  of  heretical 
sovereigns,  especially  of  Elizabeth,  was  a  meritorious  action ; 
and  that  whoever  should  lose  his  life  in  such  an  attempt, 
would  be  certain  of  eternal  bliss. 

The  Prince  of  Orange,  the  great  deliverer  of  the  northern 
Netherlands,  was  assassinated  by  Philip's  agent;  and  Eliza- 
beth well  knew  that  many  a  dagger  was  sharpened  for  her 
destruction.  Campian,  a  Jesuit,  was  detected  in  a  plot  against 
her  life,  and  executed  in  1581.  All  Jesuits  and  "  seminary 
priests  "  were  banished  on  pain  of  death ;  and  no  fewer  than 
two  hundred  are  said  to  have  been  executed  on  the  charge 


HOUSE   OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1587. 


of  "pretending  to  the  power  of  absolving  subjects  from  their 
allegiance." 

292.  Five  years  later,  a  much  more  widely  spread  conspir- 
acy came  to  light,  and  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
ascertain  Queen  Mary's  share  in  it.  As  before,  her  letters 
were  the  chief  witnesses;  nor  was  it  possible  to  resist  the 
evidence  of  her  guilt.    She  was  condemned  and  executed  at 

Fotheringay  Castle,  in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  her 

Feb.  8,  1587.  .  ... 

age  and  the  nineteenth  of  her  captivity.  Elizabeth 
violently  blamed  her  councillors  for  unseemly  haste  in  exe- 
cuting the  death-warrant ;  but  if  her  grief  and  rage  had  been 
even  more  sincere,  the  Council  would  have  been  firm.  There 
was  no  peace  or  safety  for  England  so  long  as  the  Queen  of 
Scots  existed  within  its  bounds. 

293.  The  judgment  of  this  great  cause  has  been  much  af- 
fected by  the  personal  differences  between  the  two  queens. 
Mary  added  to  her  extraordinary  beauty  a  grace  of  manner 
which  fascinated  not  only  all  who  saw  her,  but  almost  all 
who  have  read  her  romantic  history.  Elizabeth  was  a  great 
sovereign,  but  a  coarse,  vain,  and  disagreeable  woman.  Nev- 
ertheless, Providence  had  made  her  the  champion  of  progress, 
freedom,  and  enlightenment,  while  her  lovely  cousin,  however 
little  she  may  have  perceived  the  fact,  was  the  representative 
of  an  iron  despotism.  If  English  freedom,  rather  than  the 
soul-crushing  tyranny  of  Spain,  was  to  become  the  leading 
principle  in  Europe,  the  death  of  Mary  Stuart  was  a  state 
necessity. 

294.  Meanwhile  England,  under  Elizabeth's  thrifty  rule, 
was  enjoying  unexampled  prosperity.  The  debts  of  the 
crown  were  honestly  paid,  and  the  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment were  met  by  the  regular  revenues,  without  taxation. 
Commerce  flourished :  both  the  navy  and  the  merchant 
marine  were  immensely  increased;  and  fisheries,  not  only  in 
European  but  American  waters,  afforded  employment  to 
multitudes  of  active  and  turbulent  spirits  which  had  been  the 


A.  D.  1588.]       THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA. 


*57 


terror  of  former  governments.  English  vessels  penetrated 
the  frozen  seas  to  the  northward,  discovered  the  port  of 
Archangel,  and  opened  trade  with  Russia.  Southampton 
merchants  grew  rich  by  their  traffic  in  African  ivory  and 
gold;  and  John  Hawkins  conceived  the  bold  idea  of  trans- 
porting laborers  from  the  populous  coasts  of  Guinea  to  the 
unplowed  soil  of  the  New  World.  The  slave-trade  has  been 
justly  condemned  by  the  enlightened  humanity  of  our  age ; 
but  in  those  days  even  philanthropists  encouraged  it,  as  a 
means  of  relieving  the  feeble  natives  of  America,  who  were 
perishing  by  thousands  from  their  unwonted  toils  under 
Spanish  overseers. 

295.  Philip  of  Spain  was  preparing  to  avenge  the  death 
of  Mary  and  assert  the  claim,  which  she  had  bequeathed 
him,  to  the  English  crown.  Drake  was  sent  to  watch  the 
Spanish  coasts,  where  he  burned  more  than  a  hundred  ships, 
and  destroyed  great  magazines  of  stores  intended  for  the  in- 
vasion. Meanwhile,  every  English  town  was  raising  men 
and  ships  for  the  defense :  nobles  and  common  people,  Pro- 
testant and  Catholic,  —  with  whom  love  of  country  was  more 
than  love  of  Church,  —  worked  together  with  zeal  and  energy; 
and  the  indomitable  spirit  of  their  Queen  inspired  them  all. 

296.  On  the  19th  of  July,  1588,  the  Invincible  Armada  of 
the  Spaniards  made  its  appearance  in  the  English  seas.  It 
extended  seven  miles  from  wing  to  wing,  and  its  great  galleons 
exceeded  in  size  any  vessels  that  had  yet  been  seen  in  Europe. 
Lord  Howard  of  Effingham  sailed  forth  to  follow  it,  with 
fewer  and  smaller  ships;  but  his  men  knew  the  coast,  and 
their  bravery  was  not  to  be  surpassed.  The  Armada  sailed 
slowly  up  the  Channel,  —  harassed  at  every  point  by  the  light 
and  well-managed  craft  of  the  English,  who  ' 'plucked  its 
feathers  one  by  one," — and  waited  near  Calais  for  the  Span- 
ish army  which  was  to  have  joined  it  from  the  Netherlands. 

Lord  Howard  now  resolved  upon  closer  fighting.  Eight 
fire-ships  were  floated  by  night  into  the  midst  of  the  Armada, 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


[A.  D.  1588. 


which  separated  in  a  fright,  and  drifted  with  the  wind  in  a 
wavering  line  along  the  coast.  With  earliest  dawn  the  battle 
began,  and  lasted  until  sunset.  The  advantage  was  with  the 
English,  whose  speed  was  double  that  of  their  clumsy  foes, 
and  who  could  fire  four  shots  to  the  Spaniards'  one. 

297.  Humiliated  and  helpless,  the  Spanish  commanders 
could  only  resolve  upon  retreat;  but,  under  a  strong  south 
wind,  this  must  be  effected  by  passing  around  the  British 
Islands.  Among  the  Orkneys  a  furious  tempest  burst  upon 
them,  and  multitudes  of  vessels  were  dashed  to  pieces  upon 
the  rocky  coasts.  Only  a  tattered  and  miserable  remnant  of 
the  Invincible  Armada  re-entered  the  Spanish  ports. 

The  war  was  carried  on  for  some  years  by  a  host  of 
privateers  under  the  Queen's  commission.  At  one  time  the 
English  forces  plundered  and  burned  Cadiz;  and  the  Span- 
ish treasure-fleets  often  fell  into  English  hands.  A  second 
Armada,  in  1597,  was  shattered  by  storms.  Philip  had  to 
content  himself  with  stirring  up  rebellions  in  Ireland. 

298.  That  restless  country,  though  nominally  a  possession 
of  the  English  crown  since  Henry  II.,  was  but  partly  sub- 
dued. The  ''English  Pale,"  as  it  was  called,  included  only 
Drogheda,  Dublin,  Wexford,  Waterford,  and  Cork,  with  a 
small  extent  of  territory  around  each.  Henry  VIII.  had, 
indeed,  made  his  strong  hand  felt  throughout  the  island, 
humbling  both  the  Norman  and  the  Celtic  chiefs  who  had 
assumed  almost  royal  power,  and  demolishing  their  castles ; 
but  his  attempt  to  "make  Ireland  English,"  by  forbidding 
the  use  of  the  national  dress,  language,  laws,  and  social  cus- 
toms, ended  in  failure;  while  his  proceedings  in  Church 
affairs  went  far  to  unite  the  whole  country  in  defense  of  the 
monasteries  and  the  shrines  of  the  saints. 

299.  The  disorders  which  had  existed  throughout  Eliza- 
beth's reign  came  to  their  most  violent  outbreak  in  "Tyrone's 
Rebellion."  That  chief  had  been  educated  at  the  English 
court,  and  had  been  placed  by  its  power  at  the  head  of  the 


A.  D.  1603.]  DEATH  OF  ELIZABETH. 


159 


great  clan  of  O'Neill,  in  a  contest  with  a  rival  chieftain. 
But  once  master  of  the  north  of  Ireland,  he  defied  the  power 
that  had  raised  him,  and  maintained  his  resistance  for  several 
years.  By  defeating  an  English  army  at  Blackwater,  in  1598, 
he  gained  an  ample  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition. 

300.  The  Earl  of  Essex,  now  Elizabeth's  chief  favorite, 
was  sent  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  He  failed;  and  his  in- 
solence in  returning  home  contrary  to  her  command,  dis- 
pleased the  Queen  even  more  than  his  ill  success.  The 
quarrel  rose  to  such  a  height,  that  Essex  entered  into  trea- 
sonable correspondence  with  the  King  of  Scots,  and  tried  to 
stir  up  a  riot  in  London.    He  was  thrown  into 

prison;  and,  after  long  and  painful  vacillation 

on  the  Queen's  part,  he  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill. 

Elizabeth  had  given  him  a  ring  in  happier  days,  assuring 
him  that,  whatever  changes  might  occur,  it  would  always  be 
a  passport  to  her  favor.  She  waited  in  vain  for  the  return 
of  this  ring;  and,  at  length,  her  offended  pride,  both  as  sov- 
ereign and  as  friend,  led  her  to  sign  the  death-warrant.  A 
year  or  two  later,  a  lady  of  the  court  confessed,  when  dying, 
that  she  had  received  the  ring  from  Essex  to  present  to  the 
Queen,  but  that,  under  her  husband's  commands,  she  had 
withheld  it.  Elizabeth  shook  the  dying  Countess  in  her  bed, 
and  cried  out  in  a  rage,  "  God  may  forgive  you,  but  I  never 
can!"  Then  burying  herself  in  her  palace,  she  fell  into  a 
deep  melancholy  from  which  she  never  recovered.  Though 
the  Irish  rebellion  was  subdued  by  Lord  Mountjoy,  and  the 
Spaniards  were  many  times  defeated,  she  took  no  heed,  and 
died  in  the  seventieth  year  of  her  age  and  the  forty-fifth  of 
her  reign. 

301.  "The  spacious  times  of  great  Elizabeth"  will  ever  be 
remembered  as  a  most  brilliant  literary  era.  Men's  minds 
Avere  stimulated  to  fresh  thought  by  the  opening  of  "new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth."  For  while  Kepler  and  Galileo 
were  familiarizing  the  grand  discoveries  of  Copernicus  con- 


HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


ceming  the  solar  and  stellar  systems,  bold  explorers  were 
bringing  home  equally  new  and  marvelous  descriptions  of 
the  unknown  regions  of  our  own  globe:  —  the  frosty  splen- 
dors of  the  arctic  zone ;  the  barbaric  wealth  of  Mexico  and 
Peru;  the  jeweled  magnificence  of  imperial  courts  in  India 
or  China;  the  tropical  verdure  of  islands  in  hitherto  unex- 
plored oceans.  The  bonds  which  had  fettered  human  thought 
and  enterprise  were  broken. 

302.  The  English  language  reached  its  perfection  in  the 
strong  prose  of  Hooker,  the  musical  verse  of  Spenser,  and, 
above  all,  in  the  multiform  pictures  of  human  character 
wrought  by  Shakespeare  into  his  wonderful  plays.  Every 
man  was  inspired  to  do  his  best.  The  voyages  of  Frobisher, 
Drake,  Cavendish,  and  Raleigh;  the  philosophy  of  Bacon; 
the  wise  statesmanship  of  Robert  Cecil,  Walsingham,  and 
Burleigh,  all  shed  their  luster  upon  the  reign  of  the  maiden 
Queen. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Unbounded  popularity  of  Elizabeth.  Her  great  statesmen.  Prot- 
estant Church  re-established.  Pier  refusal  to  marry*  Mary  of  Scot- 
land calls  herself  Queen  of  England  ;  returning  to  Scotland,  offends 
reformers,  whose  influence  is  supreme;  marries  Henry  Darnley  J  con- 
nives at  his  murder;  is  imprisoned  and  made  to  abdicate.  Her  son 
is  crowned.  Mary,  defeated,  flees  to  England;  is  held  prisoner. 
Catholic  party  in  Europe,  with  Philip  of  Spain  at  their  head,  plot 
her  release  and  enthronement.  Elizabeth  thus  becomes  head  of  Eu- 
ropean Protestants.  Drake  preys  upon  Spanish  commerce.  Philip 
hires  assassins  to  kill  Elizabeth.  Queen  Mary  is  beheaded  at  Fother- 
ingay.  Enterprise  and  prosperity  of  England.  Invincible  Armada 
defeated  by  English  bravery  and  destroyed  by  tempests.  Discontents 
in  Ireland.  Tyrone's  rebellion.  Essex  fails  to  put  it  down  ;  becomes 
a  rebel  in  his  turn;  is  imprisoned  and  executed.  Elizabeth's  grief 
and  death.    The  grandeur  of  her  times. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW. 


PART  III. 


1.  What  events  marked  the  beginning  of  the  Modern  Era?  233-236 

2.  Describe  the  two  rebellions  against  Henry  VII.  237-239 

3.  What  proofs  of  Henry's  love  of  money?  240-243 

4.  Describe  the  character  of  Henry  VIII.  at  his  accession.   244,  245 

5.  How  did  it  change  before  his  death  ?  266,  267 

6.  What  two  widowed  queens  were  his  sisters?  246 

7.  Tell  the  story  of  Wolsey.  247,  248,  250,  251,  253-255 

8.  Describe  the  greatness  and  policy  of  Charles  V.  249-252 

9.  State  the  question  concerning  Henry's  first  marriage. 

241,  245,  253,  254,  256 

10.  What  changes  were  made  by  Parliament  of  1529?  257,  25S 

11.  Describe  Henry's  dealings  with  the  monasteries.  259,  260 

12.  Tell  the  story  of  Anne  Boleyn.  253,  258,  261 

13.  Tell  of  Henry's  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  marriages.  261-263 

14.  Describe  the  administration  of  Thomas  Cromwell.  260,  262 

15.  Describe  Henry's  dealings  with  Scotland.  246,  264 

16.  His  wars  with  France.  245,  252,  265 

17.  What  was  done  during  the  minority  of  Edward  VI.?  268-273 

18.  Describe  Northumberland's  scheme  and  his  death.  272-275 

19.  The  accession  and  character  of  Mary  Tudor.     274,  275 

20.  Her  policy  toward  the  Church.  276,  278-280 

21.  Tell  the  story  of  Cranmer.  256,  278,  280. 

22.  Of  Mary's  marriage  and  its  effects  upon  England. 

277,  278,  281 

23.  Describe  the  character  and  policy  of  Elizabeth. 

283-286,  290,  293,  294 

24.  Tell  the  history  of  the  Church  of  England.    268,  276,  278-280,  284 

25.  Of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland.  269,  286,  287 

26.  Of  Mary  Stuart.  264,  269,  286-293 

27.  Of  Philip's  Armada.  295-297 

28.  '  Of  the  disorders  in  Ireland.  298-300 

29.  Who  were  the  great  men  of  Elizabeth's  time?  301,  302 

Eng.-j4.  (161) 


PART  IV.  — THE  CENTURY  OF 
REVOLUTIONS. 


I.  ACCESSION  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  STUART. 


|ING  James  VI.  of  Scotland,  and 
now  I.  of  England  (A.  D.  1603- 
1625),  had  been  educated  by  the 
Reformers ;  and  though  the  English 
Catholics  expected  him  to  favor 
them  for  his  mother's  sake,  he  de- 
clared his  purpose  to  execute  all 
the  laws  of  Elizabeth  with  regard  to 
religion.  His  accession  was  shortly 
followed  by  three  rebellious  con- 
spiracies,—  one  aiming  to  place 
Arabella  Stuart,  the  King's  cousin, 
upon  the  throne ;  another,  to  im- 
prison the  King  and  remodel  the 
government;  and  a  third,  to  blow 
up  the  Parliament  Houses,  by  means 
of  powder  in  their  vaults,  at  a  mo- 
ment when  lords  and  commons, 
with  the  whole  royal  family,  would 
be  assembled  to  hear  the  King's  speech. 

304.  In  the  first,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  accused  of  having 
part.    He  was  imprisoned  twelve  years  upon  the  unproved 
(162) 


Gunpowder  Plot. 


A.  D.  1604.]     JAMES  AND   THE  PURITANS. 


163 


charge,  and  beguiled  die  gloom  of  his  captivity  by  writing 
his  "  History  of  the  World."  He  was  released,  but  not  par- 
doned, in  161 6,  only  that  he  might  command  a  difficult  and 
dangerous  expedition  against  Guiana,  where,  it  was  hoped, 
gold  enough  might  be  found  to  enrich  the  whole  court.  But 
James  treacherously  informed  the  King  of  Spain  of  the  sailing 
of  the  squadron.  Raleigh  was  defeated,  with  the  loss  of  his 
son  and  his  entire  fortune ;  and  returned  only  to  lay  his  head 
upon  the  block,  and  suffer  the  long  delayed  sentence  which 
the  King  had  ungenerously  kept  hanging  over  him.  Thus 
perished  the  last  of  Elizabeth's  great  captains,  unhappy  to 
have  lived  into  a  reign  where  genius  like  his  had  no  place. 

305.  The  "gunpowder  plot"  of  the  disappointed  Catholic 
party  was  discovered  on  the  eve  of  its  execution,  and  Guy 
Fawkes,  its  chief  agent,  was  put  to  death.  The  King's  acute- 
ness  in  discerning  the  danger  from  a  few  mysterious  hints, 
gave  him  the  name  of  a  second  Solomon.  He  prided  him- 
self upon  his  learning ;  and  though  his  slovenly  person, 
shambling  gait,  undignified  manner,  drunkenness,  and  buf- 
foonery made  him  the  most  unkingly  of  all  kings,  he  exacted 
worship,  as  the  "Lord's  Anointed,"  from  all  who  entered 
his  presence.  He  held  an  idea,  wholly  new  to  England,  of 
the  "divine  right"  and  absolute  power  of  the  sovereign, — 
frankly  declaring  in  the  Star  Chamber,  "As  it  is  atheism 
and  blasphemy  to  dispute  what  God  can  do,  so  it  is  high 
contempt  in  a  subject  to  dispute  what  a  king  can  do,  or  to 
say  that  the  king  can  not  do  this  or  that." 

306.  In  religious  matters  he  was  especially  arbitrary.  The 
mass  of  the  English  nation  was  now  "Puritan," — that  is, 
while  belonging  to  the  established  Church,  it  disapproved  of 
many  ceremonies  which  had  been  retained  in  the  service,  and 
desired  a  return  to  the  simple  usages  described  in  the  New 
Testament,  together  with  a  stricter  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
and  a  more  serious  tone  of  manners.  But  James  rejected  the 
petition  of  eight  hundred  clergymen  to  these  ends,  and  in- 


1 64 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1604. 


suited  the  Puritan  divines  whom  he  had  admitted  to  a  con- 
ference at  Hampton  Court,  by  a  frivolous  display  of  his 
learning,  and  by  brutal  expressions  of  contempt  for  their 
grave  remonstrances.  Parliament  and  people  stood  manfully 
for  their  rights.  "  Your  Majesty  would  be  misinformed," 
said  the  Commons,  "if  any  man  should  deliver  that  the 
kings  of  England  have  absolute  power  in  themselves  to  alter 
religion,  or  to  make  any  laws  concerning  the  same,  otherwise 
than,  as  in  temporal  causes,  by  consent  of  Parliament." 

307.  The  Separatists,  or  Independents,  differed  from  the 
Puritans  in  withdrawing  wholly  from  the  established  worship. 
One  of  their  congregations,  expecting  no  indulgence  at  home, 
passed  over  to  Holland, — that  brave  little  republic  which  had 
just  wrested  its  freedom  from  the  iron  hand  of  Spain,  and 
now  offered  a  friendly  asylum  to  all  who  were  oppressed. 
But  the  Pilgrims  were  English  at  heart,  and  desired  to  live 
under  the  laws  and  educate  their  children  in  the  language  of 
their  fathers.  They  resolved,  therefore,  to  found  a  state  in 
the  American  forests;  and  after  infinite  sufferings  and  toils, 
their  high  purpose  was  accomplished. 

308.  The  reign  of  James  is  most  honorably  marked  as  the 
era  of  colonization.  The  north  of  Ireland,  desolated  by  Ty- 
rone's rebellion,  became  the  home  of  thousands  of  industrious 
settlers  from  Scotland.  The  East  India  Company's  charter 
was  renewed,  and  its  first  factory  planted  at  Surat,  in  161 2. 
Two  associations,  known  respectively  as  the  Plymouth  and 
the  London  Company,  were  chartered  in  1606,  "for  planting 
and  ruling  New  England  in  America."  The  King's  name 
was  given  to  Jamestown,  in  Virginia,  the  first  English  town 

within  the  present  limit  of  the  United  States. 

May,  1607. 

An  idle  and  dissolute  crowd  of  adventurers  has- 
tened thither,  hoping  to  repair  their  ruined  fortunes  by  un- 
bounded discoveries  of  gold.  They  were  disappointed;  and 
the  colony,  during  its  first  years,  was  only  saved  from  de- 
struction by  the  good  sense  and  energy  of  Captain  John 


A.  D.  1621.]        PILGRIMS  AT  PLYMOUTH. 


Smith,  who  insisted  that  "nothing  was  to  be  expected  but 
by  labor."  "  Men  fell  to  building  houses  and  planting  corn," 
and  the  settlement  began  to  flourish. 

309.  After  a  few  years'  residence  in  Holland  (§  307),  the 
Separatists,  or  Pilgrims,  obtained  a  grant  of  lands  from  the 
Plymouth  Company,  and  settled,  in  1620,  on  the  rock-bound 
coast  of  Massachusetts.  Though  half  their  company  of  pio- 
neers fell  victims  to  the  hardships  of  the  first  terrible  winter 
and  the  hostility  of  the  savages,  the  Pilgrims  steadily  sur- 
mounted all  obstacles,  and  their  moral  strength  entered 
largely  into  the  character  of  New  England. 

310.  All  Europe  had  long  been  agitated  by  the  great 
religious  conflict  which,  in  16 18,  resulted  in  the  "Thirty 
Years'  War."  Bohemia  chose  Frederic,  the  Elector-palatine, 
who  had  married  a  daughter  of  James  I.,  to  be  her  king,  in 
opposition  to  the  Austrian  Ferdinand  II.,  who  was  also  em- 
peror. His  wife's  ambition  led  Frederic  to  accept  the  dan- 
gerous honor,  contrary  to  his  best  friends'  counsels;  for  she 
declared  that,  as  a  king's  daughter,  she  would  rather  starve 
at  a  royal  table  than  feast  at  that  of  an  elector.  But  Frederic 
could  neither  fight  his  own  battles  nor  obtain  aid  from  his 
connections.  The  English  Parliament  would  willingly  have 
voted  funds  to  maintain  the  Protestant  interests ;  but  James 
cared  more  for  the  "divine  right"  of  the  Austrian  despot 
than  for  the  outraged  consciences  of  his  people.  He  con- 
sented to  help  maintain  his  son-in-law's  inherited  dominions, 
but  not  to  further  his  possession  of  Bohemia.  The  new  King 
was  totally  defeated  near  Prague,  and  lost  not  only  his  new 
kingdom  but  his  old  electorate.  His  family  were  compelled 
to  beg  their  bread  at  foreign  courts. 

311.  The  English  Commons  were  justly  indignant  at  this 
disgrace,  and  the  King  made  use  of  their  excitement  to  de- 
mand a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  more  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  war.  It  was  granted  without  demur;  and  the  House 
then  proceeded  to  examine  various  wrongs  and  grievances. 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS,     [A.  D.  1621. 


The  great  Chancellor,  Lord  Bacon,  —  the  first  philosopher  of 
his' age,  and  among  the  first  of  all  ages,  — was  found  to  have 
accepted  gifts  from  suitors  in  his  Court  of  Chancery  —  an 
intolerable  stain  on  the  honor  of  his  high  office  and  of  the 
nation.  He  was  condemned  to  a  fine  of  $200,000,  to  im- 
prisonment in  the  Tower,  and  to  perpetual  exclusion  from 
office.  The  King  soon  remitted  his  fine  and  imprisonment, 
but  the  disgrace  could  never  be  removed  from  a  name  which 
would  otherwise  have  shone  among  the  brightest  in  English 
records. 

312.  The  freedom  of  the  Commons  offended  the  King, 
who  sharply  told  them  that  their  powers  were  derived  from 
the  gracious  permission  of  his  ancestors,  and  that  he  would 
maintain  their  lawful  liberties  only  so  long  as  they  kept  within 
the  limits  of  their  duty.  Undismayed,  the  representatives  of 
the  people  replied  that  "the  liberties,  franchises,  privileges, 
and  jurisdictions  of  Parliament  are  the  ancient  and  undoubted 
birthright  and  inheritance  of  the  subjects  of  England."  The 

King  sent  for  the  Journals  of  the  House,  and 

Dec,  1621.  .  . 

with  his  own  hand  tore  out  the  pages  containing 
this  manly  protest ;  he  then  dissolved  the  Parliament  in  great 
wrath ;  but  within  two  years,  want  of  money  forced  him  to 
call  for  a  new  election.  It  was  fortunate  for  the  people  that 
James's  wasteful  government  spent  more  money  even  in  peace 
than  Elizabeth  had  ever  spent  in  war;  for  his  necessities 
threw  him  into  ever-increasing  dependence  upon  the  Parlia- 
ment. 

313.  The  King's  weakness  was  shown  in  his  choice  of 
favorites.  The  first  was  Robert  Carr,  a  handsome  but  ig- 
norant youth,  for  whose  benefit  the  doting  sovereign  became 
a  schoolmaster,  giving  him  daily  lessons  in  Latin  and  in 
"king-craft."  But  when  remorse  for  a  dark  and  revolting 
crime  spoiled  Carr's  graceful  gayety,  James  transferred  his 
affections  to  George  Villiers,  whom  he  raised,  by  successive 
promotions,  to  the  high  rank  of  Duke  of  Buckingham.  This 


A.  D.  1625.]       ACCESSION  OF  CHARLES  /. 


167 


haughty  favorite  displayed  himself  in  Parliament,  his  velvet 
dress  blazing  with  diamonds,  making  no  secret  of  the  wealth 
which  he  most  unrighteously  attained.  The  only  way  to  the 
King's  favor  or  to  public  office  was  by  bribing  "  Steenie," 
who  accepted  no  small  offerings. 

314.  The  death  of  Prince  Henry,  the  King's  eldest  son, 
in  161 2,  was  a  grief  and  a  loss  to  the  nation.  The  dignity 
and  orderly  virtue  of  his  little  court  was  a  silent  rebuke  to 
the  royal  household.  The  heir  to  the  throne  was  now 
' i  Baby  Charles."  Contrary  to  the  deep  feeling  and  long- 
cherished  policy  of  England,  James  resolved  to  marry  his 
son  to  a  Spanish  Infanta,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  not 
only  of  Parliament,  but  of  all  his  nobles  and  counselors 
except  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.  To  please  Spain,  he  held 
aloof  from  the  Protestants  of  Germany,  and  allowed  the 
contest  for  Bohemia  to  spread  into  an  almost  universal  and 
most  malignant  war,  while  he  suspended  all  the  laws  against 
popery  at  home. 

Prince  Charles  and  Buckingham  made  a  romantic  visit  to 
the  court  of  Madrid  to  urge  the  suit.  But  the  favorite's  free 
and  insolent  manners  disgusted  the  ceremonious  circle;  and 
he  foresaw  that  he  would  find  no  favor  from  a  Spanish  queen, 
when  his  young  master  should  come  to  the  throne.  He  there- 
fore turned  his  great  influence  against  the  match,  and  Charles 
was  affianced  to  Henrietta  Maria,  sister  of  the  French  king. 
The  breaking  of  the  Spanish  marriage  was  celebrated  in  Eng- 
land with  bonfires  and  unlimited  rejoicing.  The  next  year, 
March,  1625,  King  James  died,  and  Charles  came  to  the 
throne. 

RECAPITULATION. 

King  James  of  Scotland,  being  nearest  heir  of  Henry  VIII.,  suc- 
ceeds Elizabeth.  Favors  Spain  and  imprisons  Raleigh,  who  is  put 
to  death  on  an  unproved  charge  of  treason.  The  King  unravels  the 
"Gunpowder  Plot";  insists  upon  divine  right  and  sacred  majesty  of 


i68 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS. 


kings ;  browbeats  the  Puritans.  Colonization  in  Ireland  and  America. 
Virginia  and  Massachusetts  founded.  Thirty  Years'  War  in  Germany. 
Misfortunes  of  the  King's  son-in-law.  Contentions  between  King  and 
Parliament.  Impeachment  of  Lord  Chancellor  Bacon.  Insolence  of 
Buckingham.  Proposed  "Spanish  Match"  for  Prince  Charles.  His 
marriage  with  the  French  princess,  Henrietta  Maria.  The  King's 
death. 


II.  REIGN  OF  CHARLES  I. 


HARLES  I.  (A.  D.  1625-1649)  began 
his  reign  with  an  empty  treasury,  on 
the  eve  of  a  war  with  Spain.  He 
therefore  called  upon  Parliament  for  a 
supply  of  money.  But  that  body  was 
now  composed  of  able  men  who  loved 
their  country,  and  keenly  felt  the  dan- 
ger which  threatened  her.  4 4  England 
is  the  last  monarchy,"  said  one  of  them, 
4  4  who  yet  retains  her  liberties.  Let 
them  riot  perish  now  ! "  They  granted 
the  customs  called  4  4  tonnage  and 
poundage  "  for  only  one  year,  instead 
of  for  the  life  of  the  King  ;  and  Charles, 
angrily  dissolving  them,  attempted  to 
raise  a  loan  by  his  own  authority. 
This  afforded  only  momentary  relief, 
and  it  offended  the  people  more  than 
it  helped  the  King. 

316.  A  new  Parliament,  in  1626, 
impeached  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
for  incompetency  and  corruption.  The  King  was  even  more 
controlled  by  the  great  favorite  than  his  father  had  been. 
He  imprisoned  Sir  John  Eliot,  whose  fiery  eloquence  had 
advocated  the  impeachment;  and  again  dissolved  the  Parlia- 
ment. The  forced  loan  now  called  for  roused  the  whole 
country  to  resistance.  The  King's  commissioners  were  driven 
from  the  towns,  with  cries  of  4  4  A  Parliament !  a  Parliament ! 
else  no  subsidies  !"  Poor  men  were  punished  for  their  refusal 
by  being  drafted  into  the  army  or  navy.  Two  hundred  gen- 
Eng.— 15.  (169) 


Charles  the  First. 


170 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS,     [A.  D.  1627. 


tlemen  of  fortune  were  imprisoned  and  finally  brought  before 
the  Council.  Among  them  was  John  Hampden,  who  declared 
that  he  "  could  be  content  to  lend,"  but  feared  to  bring  upon 
himself  the  curse  in  Magna  Charta  (§  152)  against  all  who 
broke  that  solemn  compact  between  sovereign  and  people. 
He  was  punished  by  a  still  more  severe  imprisonment. 

317.  Though  half  Europe  was  now  the  enemy  of  Charles, 
and  though  his  war  against  Spain  had  resulted  in  a  miserable 
failure,  he  was  rash  enough,  penniless  and  at  variance  with 
his  people,  to  plunge  into  a  new  war  with  France.  Bucking- 
ham was  intrusted  with  an  expedition  in  aid  of  the  Huguenots 
of  Rochelle ;  but  he  managed  so  ill  that  he  lost  two-thirds  of 
his  army  and  accomplished  nothing. 

Burdened  with  debt  and  humiliation,  the  King  had  to  sum- 
mon another  Parliament,  which  proved  even  more  resolute 
than  the  last.    Its  sreat  work  was  the  Petition 

A.  D.  1628.  .  .  fe 

of  Rights,  which  is  justly  called  "  The  Second 

Great  Charter  of  English  Liberties."    After  reciting  the  laws 

of  Edward  I.  and  Edward  III.,  which  guaranteed  the  rights 

of  the  subject,  and  complaining  that,  in  addition  to  arbitrary 

taxes,  imprisonments,  and  executions,  great  companies  of 

soldiers  and  sailors  had  lately  been  quartered  in  private 

houses,  to  the  great  grievance  and  vexation  of  the  people, 

they  closed  by  ' '  humbly  praying  his  most  excellent  Majesty" 

for  relief  from  all  these  grievances,  ' '  according  to  the  laws 

and  statutes  of  this  realm." 

318.  Upon  the  receipt  of  five  subsidies,  the  King  reluc- 
tantly affixed  his  royal  signature  to  the  bill;  and  then,  to 
escape  further  remonstrances,  dissolved  the  Parliament. 
Buckingham  was  assassinated  while  preparing  a  new  expedi- 
tion to  relieve  Rochelle.  The  fleet,  under  another  com- 
mander, arrived  too  late  to  be  of  use ;  and  the  Huguenots 
were  compelled  to  surrender  the  city  under  the  very  eyes  of 
their  English  allies.  Poverty  soon  forced  King  Charles  to 
make  peace,  and  he  even  chose  some  ministers  from  among 


A.  D.  1629.]  ^        STRAFFORD  AND  LAUD, 


171 


the  popular  leaders ;  but  the  people  distrusted  him  so  deeply, 
that  these  leaders  immediately  lost  their  favor. 

319.  Especially  was  this  true  of  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth, 
whom  the  King  raised,  by  successive  promotions,  to  be 
Earl  of  Strafford,  and  adopted  as  his  chief  counselor.  Went- 
worth had  spoken  in  favor  of  popular  rights  only  through 
hatred  and  jealousy  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham ;  but  as  soon 
as  the  favorite's  death  made  way  for  him  to  rise  into  power, 
he  threw  off  the  cloak  of  patriotism  and  lent  his  great  talents 
to  building  up  the  power  of  the  crown.  He  was  made  Lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  and  not  only  subdued  that  restless  country 
to  absolute  submission,  but  raised  from  it  a  fleet  and  army  to 
enforce  the  King's  will  in  England  and  Scotland. 

320.  Both  countries  were  driven  almost  to  revolt  by  re- 
ligious tyranny.  The  King's  chief  agent  in  this  matter  was 
Laud,  Bishop  of  London,  who  afterward  became  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  He  lost  no  opportunity  to  preach  submission 
to  the  "  Lord's  Anointed"  in  the  payment  of  taxes;  and  he 
demanded  from  Scotch  Presbyterians  and  English  Puritans  a 
strict  conformity  to  his  own  rules  for  public  worship.  Charles 
had  inherited  his  father's  dislike  of  the  Scotch  reformers,  and 
he  determined,  by  a  most  unwarranted  stretch  of  his  author- 
ity, to  impose  upon  the  northern  kingdom  the  liturgy  and 
usages  of  the  Church  of  England.  He,  moreover,  renewed 
his  father's  law  encouraging  public  sports  and  recreations  on 
Sunday  afternoons;  and  he  ordered  all  clergymen  to  read 
his  proclamation  to  this  effect  after  morning  service  in  the 
churches.  The  Puritan  clergy  refused  obedience,  and  multi- 
tudes were  punished  by  ejection  from  their  livings. 

321.  The  King  had  now  resolved  to  rule  without  a  Parlia- 
ment ;  and  he  added  to  his  lawless  exactions  of  ' i  tonnage  and 
poundage,"  a  revival  of  th£  old  tax  known  as  ship-money. 
But  Alfred  and  Ethelred  had  only  presumed  to  call  for  this 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  witan  (§  49),  while  Charles 


172 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.     [A.  D.  1637. 


demanded  it  by  his  own  arbitrary  will.  John  Hampden 
a  d  6  refused  to  pay  ship-money,  in  order  to  bring  the 
matter  to  a  test  before  the  laws.  All  the  nation 
looked  on  with  intense  anxiety  while  the  question  was  argued 
before  the  Court  of  Exchequer.  Even  Clarendon,  the  courtly 
historian,  says  that  Hampden  ' '  grew  the  argument  of  all 
tongues,  every  man  inquiring  who  and  what  he  was,  that 
durst  at  his  own  charge  support  the  liberty  and  prosperity 
of  the  kingdom." 

322.  After  long  delay,  the  Court  gave  its  decision.  Four 
of  the  twelve  judges,  though  holding  their  places  only  during 
the  King's  pleasure,  had  the  manliness  to  give  sentence  in 
Hampden's  favor;  seven  decided  against  him,  and  one  gave 
an  evasive  answer.  The  moral  victory  remained  with  Hamp- 
den; for  though  the  sentence  of  the  Court  placed  all  the 
property  in  England  at  the  King's  disposal,  the  people  were 
now  roused  to  a  sense  of  their  danger.  Thousands  emigrated 
to  America;  and  Hampden,  with  his  kinsman,  Oliver  Crom- 
well, had  actually  embarked  among  the  rest,  when  a  royal 
order  in  Council  prevented  the  sailing  of  the  ship.  Even 
Charles  the  First  never  committed  a  greater  blunder. 

323.  In  Scotland,  meanwhile,  nobles,  gentry,  clergymen, 
and  citizens  had  organized  themselves  into  four  "Tables," 
and  assumed  the  whole  government  of  the  kingdom.  In  the 
famous  paper  called  the  Covenant  they  solemnly  swore  that 
they  would  "continue  in  the  profession  of  the  reformed  faith, 
and  resist  all  contrary  errors  and  corruptions."  The  Earl  of 
Argyle  became  leader  of  the  "Covenanters,"  and  General 
Leslie,  a  veteran  trained  on  the  Continent  in  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  volunteer  forces. 
War  was  indeed  imminent.  The  King  came  northward  with 
a  great  fleet  and  army;  but  his  followers  were  divided  in 
their  sympathies,  and  he  had  to  make  peace,  with  a  promise 
to  abrogate  the  Canons,  the  Liturgy,  and  the  Court  of  High 
Commission. 


A.  D.  1641.]        THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT. 


173 


324.  The  expense  of  this  bootless  expedition  compelled  the 
King  to  summon  the  English  Parliament,  which  had  not  met 
in  eleven  years.  But  it  insisted  upon  redress  of  grievances 
before  voting  supplies,  and  was  dissolved  in  three  weeks. 
The  Scottish  army  now  invaded  England  and  threatened 
York,  where  the  King  was  residing.  The  "  Long  Parlia- 
ment"—  so  called  in  contrast  to  the  short  session  of  the 
spring,  and  from  its  own  duration  of  thirteen  years  —  met  in 
the  autumn,  and  began  its  work  by  impeaching 
Strafford  and  Laud.  Strafford  was  easily  con- 
victed of  plotting  to  overthrow  the  constitutional  liberties  of 
England;  but  the  letter  of  the  law  provided  no  penalty  for 
this  worst  of  treasons,  restricting  its  punishments  to  offenses 
against  the  person  of  the  King.  The  Houses  of  Parliament, 
therefore,  passed  a  Bill  of  Attainder;  and  the  King,  after 
much  hesitation,  signed  his  death-warrant.  The  popular  joy 
and  relief  broke  forth  in  shouts  of  triumph,  and  bonfires 
blazed  in  every  city. 

325.  On  the  day  of  Strafford's  sentence  the  King  also 
signed  a  bill  of  immense  importance,  providing  that  Parlia- 
ment should  not  be  dissolved,  prorogued,  or  adjourned  with- 
out its  own  consent,  and  that  a  Parliament  should  be  held  at 
least  once  in  three  years.  The  Courts  of  Star  Chamber  and 
High  Commission  were  abolished.  The  King's  tools  for  op- 
pression were  brought  to  trial,  from  the  judges  who  had  de- 
cided against  Hampden  to  the  sheriffs  and  custom-house 
officers  who  had  collected  the  unlawful  taxes.  The  Scots, 
whose  military  movements  had  made  these  acts  possible, 
were  declared  to  have  been  ' '  ever  good  subjects";  and  a 
gift  of  ^60,000,  beside  their  pay,  was  voted  them  for  their 
brotherly  assistance. 

326.  While  the  King  was  in  the  north,  trying  to  conciliate 
the  Scots,  a  fierce  rebellion  broke  out  in  Ireland.  The 
English  and  Scotch  in  Ulster  (§  308)  were  exterminated  by 
a  general  slaughter;  in  the  other  three  counties,  they  were 


174 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1642. 


driven  from  their  homes  to  perish  by  wintry  frosts  and 
storms.  Dublin  alone  remained  to  the  English.  Parliament, 
distrusting  the  King,  took  the  task  of  dealing  with  the  Irish 
rebellion  upon  its  own  hands. 

327.  One  rash  act  of  the  King  now  hurried  on  the  civil 
war.  The  Commons  had  refused  to  surrender  five  of  their 
members  at  his  command,  and  Charles,  with  three  hundred 
armed  followers,  came  in  person  to  the  House  to  arrest 
them.  The  five  were  absent,  and  the  King  had  to  depart 
as  he  went,  having  offered  a  flagrant  insult  to  the  House 
and  violated  a  fundamental  law  of  the  land.  London  was  in 
a  tumult.  The  accused  members  were  sheltered  by  the  citi- 
zens; and  when  they  returned  to  their  seats,  the  river  and 
the  streets  by  which  they  passed  were  guarded  by  cannon 
and  men-at-arms. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Need  of  money  makes  Charles  I.  dependent  upon  Parliament, 
which  knows  its  duty  too  well  to  grant  supplies  without  redress  of 
grievances.  He  demands  a  forced  loan  ;  makes  war  in  France  with- 
out success ;  obtains  five  subsidies  by  signing  Petition  of  Rights. 
Death  of  Buckingham.  Rise  of  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford.  Laud 
preaches  the  duty  of  absolute  obedience  to  royal  authority.  Charles 
oppresses  Scotch  Presbyterians  and  English  Puritans;  attempts  to  levy 
customs  and  ship-money  without  parliamentary  grant.  Llampden's  re- 
sistance. Scotch  Covenanters  in  arms.  The  King  is  forced  to  comply 
with  their  demands.  Long  Parliament  impeaches  Strafford  and  Laud  ; 
votes  itself  permanent ;  abolishes  Courts  of  Star  Chamber  and  High 
Commission;  votes  aid  to  the  Scots.  Massacre  of  the  English  in  Ire- 
land. Charles  attempts  to  arrest  five  members  of  Parliament;  they 
are  protected  by  citizens  of  London. 


III.  THE  CIVIL  WARS. 


HE  two  parties  of  King  and  Par- 
liament were  now  openly  arrayed 
against  each  other,  and  English 
turf  was  again  to  be  reddened 
by  English  blood  shed  in  civil 
strife.  London  and  the  other 
great  cities,  with  the  Puritan 
party  in  religion,  were  on  the  par- 
liamentary side.  Oxford  alone 
remained  devoted  to  the  King. 
The  adherents  of  the  ancient 
Church  naturally  sided  with 
Charles;   and   so   did  all  the 


a  Cavalier.  young  Cavaliers,  who  delighted 

ill  a  gay  and  easy  life,  and  in 
those  light  amusements  which  the  Puritans  so  bitterly  con- 
demned. Foremost  among  them  were  the  King's  nephews, 
Rupert  and  Maurice,  sons  of  that  unfortunate  Elector-palatine 
who  had  tried  to  be  King  of  Bohemia  (§  310). 

329.  Parliament  appointed  lieutenants  for  all  the  counties, 
and  levied  forces  in  the  King's  name  for  the  defense  of  the 
kingdom  against  the  King  himself.  The  armies  which  had 
been  raised  for  service  in  Ireland  were  retained  in  England, 
and  put  under  command  of  the  Earl  of  Essex.  Citizens 
brought  their  plate  and  women  their  ornaments,  even  to 
their  thimbles  and  their  wedding-rings,  to  be  melted  up  in 
the  service  of  the  good  cause  against  the  malignants,  as  the 
Cavaliers  began  to  be  called.  The  Queen,  on  the  other 
hand,  sailed  for  Holland  to  pawn  the  crown  jewels  for  gun- 
powder and  muskets. 

(i75) 


i76 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS,     [A.  D.  1642. 


330.  Charles  set  up  his  royal  standard  at  Nottingham, 
Aug.  22,  1642,  while  the  Earl  of  Essex  mustered  the  Parlia- 
mentary forces  at  Northampton.  The  battles  of  that  autumn 
were  indecisive  and  need  not  be  recorded.  The  spring  opened 
with  the  capture  of  Reading  by  Essex ;  but  Cornwall  and  the 
four  northern  counties  were  at  the  same  time  conquered  by 
the  royal  generals.  A  skirmish  at  Chalgrove  Field  would 
have  been  unimportant  but  that  it  cost  the  inestimable  life 
of  Hampden.  At  Lansdown  Hill,  near  Bath,  and  at  Devizes 
the  King's  forces  were  victorious;  and  soon  afterward  Prince 
Rupert  captured  Bristol,  an  important  city  which  gave  him 
the  command  of  the  west. 

In  the  hard-fought  and  really  drawn  battle  of  Newbury, 
the  good  Lord  Falkland  lost  his  life.  He  was  a  true  lover 
of  freedom  and  of  his  country,  but  he  also  loved  the  estab- 
lished Church,  and  hoped  that  the  King  would  at  last  consent 
to  the  just  demands  of  the  people.  He  fought,  therefore, 
against  the  Parliament.  On  the  morning  of  the  battle  he  was 
heard  to  say,  ' '  I  am  weary  of  the  times,  and  foresee  much 
misery  to  my  country,  but  believe  that  I  shall  be  out  of  it  ere 
night. " 

331.  The  Parliament  now  allied  itself  with  the  Scots  by 
means  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  Both  parties 
bound  themselves  to  work  for  the  extirpation  of  4 '  popery 
and  prelacy,  superstition,  heresy,  schism,  and  profaneness," 
and  to  maintain  the  rights  of  parliaments  in  just  regard  to 
the  royal  authority.  A  Scottish  army  marched  into  England, 
while  the  King  called  over  his  troops  from  Ireland.  A  large 
body  of  these  were  defeated  and  captured  at  Nantwich  by 
Sir  Thomas  Fairfax,  who  afterward  joined  the  Scots  in  be- 
sieging York.    Prince  Rupert  advanced  to  its  relief,  and  in 

the  furiously  fought  battle  of  Marston  Moor  the 

July,  1644.  3  & 

royal  forces  were  overthrown,  with  the  loss  of 
their  artillery.  In  the  south  and  west,  however,  the  Parlia- 
mentary troops  under  Essex  were  put  to  flight. 


A.  D.  1645.]         CROMWELL'S  LRONSLDES. 


332.  The  Parliament  itself  was  now  divided  into  widely 
differing  parties.  The  Presbyterians  desired  a  limited  mon- 
archy and  an  established  Church  without  bishops.  The  In- 
dependents were  more  radical :  they  admitted  no  intervention 
of  the  civil  power,  either  to  help  or  hinder,  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion ;  and  desired  a  commonwealth  without  king  or  nobles, 
in  which  all  men  should  be  equal  before  the  laws.  Oliver 
Cromwell  was  a  principal  leader  of  the  Independents,  and 
became  the  foremost  figure  in  that  eventful  time. 

333  •  Several  noblemen  had  hitherto  held  commands  in  the 
Parliamentary  armies;  but  the  movements  of  the  earls  of 
Essex  and  Manchester  were  constantly  hampered  by  their 
fear  of  hurting  the  King ;  they  wished  only  to  teach  him,  by 
a  few  reverses,  to  keep  within  the  just  limits  of  his  authority. 
A  plan  was  devised  for  changing  officers  without  giving 
offense.  A  ' i  Self-denying  Ordinance"  was  introduced  into 
Parliament,  excluding  the  members  of  either  House  from 
holding  any  civil  or  military  office.  All  noblemen  were  by 
right  of  birth  members  of  the  upper  House,  and  the  passage 
of  the  bill  therefore  removed  from  the  army  the  earls  of 
Essex,  Manchester,  Waller,  and  several  others.  Cromwell, 
though  a  member  of  the  lower  House,  was  permitted  to 
retain  his  command  for  a  time. 

334.  With  the  consent  of  Fairfax,  the  Commander-in-chief, 
he  now  introduced  a  "New  Model"  of  discipline  into  the 
army.  The  first  aim  was  to  collect  a  body  of  honest,  self- 
respecting  and  God-fearing  men;  and  never,  probably,  was 
such  another  army  seen.  Their  leisure  time  was  spent  in 
study  of  the  Bible  and  mutual  exhortations  to  a  godly  life. 
Wherever  they  moved,  every  man's  house  and  field  was  re- 
spected, and  provisions  were  honestly  paid  for.  The  King's 
army,  though  superior  at  first  in  military  training,  was  worse 
than  a  plague  of  grasshoppers  to  the  country  over  which  it 
moved.  The  wild  young  marauders  who  followed  Prince 
Rupert  had  learned  their  trade  among  the  direful  scenes  of 


i7S 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1645. 


the  Thirty  Years'  War,  where  the  burning  of  villages  and  the 
ravaging  of  harvest-fields  were  but  every-day  affairs.  The 
citizen-soldiers  of  the  Parliament,  called  from  their  looms  and 
desks,  soon  acquired  the  drill  which  they  lacked,  while  the 
bravery  of  the  Cavaliers  scantily  compensated  the  King's 
cause  for  the  disgrace  of  their  misconduct. 

335.  The  success  of  the  "  New  Model"  was  proved  in  the 
battle  of  Naseby,  where,  in  spite  of  Prince  Rupert's  fiery  and 

victorious  onset  upon  Ireton's  command,  Crom- 
well and  Fairfax  won  the  day.  The  King  quitted 
the  field  with  a  loss  of  5,000  prisoners  and  all  his  artillery 
and  baggage.  In  the  latter  were  found  papers  revealing  the 
King's  plot  with  the  Irish  rebels,  conceding  all  their  wild 
demands  on  condition  of  their  aid  against  the  English  Par- 
liament. Prince  Rupert  soon  afterward  surrendered  Bristol, 
then  the  second  city  in  England,  and  was  recommended  by 
his  uncle  to  seek  his  fortune  beyond  seas. 

336.  The  King's  cause  fast  fell  to  ruin,  and  he  shut  him- 
self up  in  Oxford,  whence  he  in  vain  sent  messengers  to 
London  to  treat  for  peace.  Finding  that  no  man  trusted 
him,  he  secretly  left  Oxford  with  only  two  attendants,  and 
fled  to  the  Scotch  army  at  Newark.  He  believed  that  he 
had  removed  all  offense  on  the  part  of  the  Scots  by  conced- 
ing all  their  demands;  and,  moreover,  he  might  count  more 
on  the  affection  of  the  subjects  among  whom  he  had  been 
born,  than  of  the  new  people  among  whom  his  father  had 
come  as  a  foreigner.  But  he  still  refused  to  sign  the  Cov- 
enant, or  to  accept  the  terms  offered  him  by  the  English 
Parliament.  The  Scots,  the  royalist  officers,  and  even  the 
Queen  urged  him  with  tears  to  provide  thus  for  his  safety. 
Large  arrears  were  now  due  from  the  Parliament  to  the 
Scottish  army;  and  upon  the  receipt  of  ^400,000,  its  officers 
agreed  to  surrender  the  King  into  the  hands  of  the  English 
commissioners. 

337.  The  triumph  of  the  Parliament  was  of  short  duration. 


A.  D.  1648.] 


CHARLES  A  PRISONER, 


179 


The  army,  in  which  the  Independent  party  was  the  stronger, 
•made  the  King  its  prisoner,  and,  moving  upon  London, 
assumed  control  of  the  government  and  city.  The  King 
was  reinstated  at  Hampton  Court,  and  though  under  guard, 
lived  with  dignity  and  every  appearance  of  personal  freedom. 
The  generals  Cromwell  and  Ireton  desired  to  save  him;  but 
they  found,  as  the  Parliament  had  done,  that  his  word  was 
given  only  to  be  violated.  Secretly  eluding  his 
attendants,  Charles  fled  to  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
whose  governor,  Col.  Hammond,  conducted  him  to  Caris- 
brook  Castle.  Here  he  was  still  a  prisoner,  though  treated, 
as  before,  with  every  mark  of  respect;  but  on  his  attempting 
to  leave  Carisbrook,  he  was  deprived  of  communication  with 
his  friends,  and  even  of  the  attendance  of  his  servants. 

338.  Parliament  was  meanwhile  trying  to  come  to  agree- 
ment with  the  King  and  to  rid  itself  of  the  army.  But  the 
army  distrusted  the  Parliament,  and  refused  to  be  disbanded 
until  its  work  was  done  and  English  freedom  secured.  At 
this  moment  the  Parliament  was  more  dangerous  than  the 
King,  for  in  its  sectarian  zeal  it  enacted  a  law  more  ferocious 
than  even  the  persecuting  statutes  of  Henry  VIII.  or  "Bloody 
Mary."  The  death  penalty  was  fixed  upon  all  who  should 
deny  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  or  the  divinity  of  Christ  or 
the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  or  the  resurrection  of 
the  body ;  while  persons  believing  ' '  that  man  by  nature  hath 
free  will  to  turn  to  God,"  or  denying  the  lawfulness  of 
"Church  government  by  Presbytery,"  were  to  be  punished 
with  imprisonment.  Of  course  this  terrible  statute  was  never 
enforced,  but  its  enactment  proved  the  danger  and  justified 
extraordinary  means  of  resistance. 

339.  The  King  was  still  stirring  up  war  between  his  two 
kingdoms  by  secret  agents,  while  royalist  risings  agitated 
every  part  of  England.  Cromwell  gained  a  decisive  victory 
at  Preston  over  an  invading  army  of  Scots,  and  pushing  on 
over  the  Border,  reinstated  the  Marquis  of  Argyle  in  power 


i8o 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.     [A.  D.  1648. 


at  Edinburgh  (§  323).  He  then  hastened  to  London,  where 
the  Parliament  had  accepted  the  King's  concessions  as  a 
"sufficient  foundation  for  a  treaty  of  peace/'  and  where  Col. 
Pride  had  thereupon  taken  possession  of  the  House,  and 
arrested  or  excluded  all  the  royalist  members.  The  remnant 
of  a  Parliament,  now  exclusively  composed  of  Independents, 
made  a  new  law  declaring  it  to  be  high  treason  for  a  king 
to  levy  war  against  the  lawfully  chosen  representatives  of  his 
people.  They  furthermore  declared  that  the  people  are,  under 
God,  the  origin  of  all  just  power,  and  that  the  Commons  of 
England  in  Parliament  assembled  —  being  chosen  by  and 
representing  the  people  — •  are  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
nation ;  and  it  was  voted  without  a  dissenting  voice  to  bring 
Charles  Stuart  to  trial  for  the  ' 4  treason,  blood,  and  mischief 
he  was  guilty  of." 

340.  Never  was  a  more  august  assemblage  in  Westminster 
Hall  than  the  court  which  was  to  settle  the  great  dispute 
between  King  and  people.  One  hundred  and  fifty  com- 
missioners had  been  appointed  by  the  Commons,  with  Brad- 

shaw,  an  eminent  lawyer,  at  their  head.  The 

Jan.,  1649. 

advocate  of  the  Commons  opened  the  case  by  a 
statement  that  * i  Charles  Stuart,  being  admitted  King  of 
England  and  intrusted  with  a  limited  power,  yet,  from  a 
wicked  design  to  erect  an  unlimited  and  tyrannical  govern- 
ment, had  traitorously  and  maliciously  levied  war  against 
the  present  Parliament  and  the  people  whom  they  repre- 
sented, and  was  therefore  impeached  as  a  tyrant,  traitor, 
murderer,  and  a  public  and  implacable  enemy  to  the  Com- 
monwealth." 

341.  Charles  appeared  more  majestic  in  this  hour  of  peril 
than  ever  in  his  days  of  power  and  prosperity.  He  replied 
with  dignity,  but  with  mildness,  that  his  kingly  rights  were 
derived  from  the  Supreme  Majesty  of  Heaven,  and  that  no 
earthly  tribunal  could  be  competent  to  try  him.  And,  con- 
trary as  this  theory  was  to  the  whole  spirit  of  the  English 


A.  D.  1649]      EXECUTION  OF  CHARLES  I.  181 

government,  as  well  as  destructive  to  the  safety  and  just 
rights  of  the  people,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Charles  believed 
it,  and  thought  that  he  was  only  guarding  a  sacred  trust 
which  God  had  bestowed  upon  him.  Thirty-two  witnesses 
were  examined,  and,  after  five  days,  the  prisoner  was  pro- 
nounced guilty. 

342.  The  Scots  protested  against  this  trial  of  their  hered- 
itary king;  the  Dutch  interceded,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales 
sent  a  blank  sheet  of  paper,  with  his  name  and  seal  affixed, 
upon  which  the  Parliament  might  write  any  terms  it  pleased 
for  sparing  his  father's  life.  All  was  in  vain :  the  King  was 
condemned  to  die.  A  scaffold  was  erected  from  the  window 
of  the  great  banqueting  room  in  his  own  palace  of  White- 
hall )  and  there,  surrounded  by  a  sea  of  upturned 

faces,  his  "gray,  discrowned  head"  fell  beneath 
the  executioner's  ax.  Until  the  present  reign,  the  30th  of 
January  was  commemorated  as  the  ' '  Day  of  King  Charles 
the  Martyr,"  by  a  special  service  in  the  English  Church, 
and  by  solemn  mourning  on  the  part  of  the  court.  The 
good  sense  of  the  Queen  or  her  ministers  —  whose  govern- 
ment fully  accepts  and  embodies  the  principles  that  con- 
demned Charles  —  then  abrogated  the  meaningless  and  af- 
fected ceremony. 

343.  In  domestic  virtue  Charles  was  unsurpassed  by  any 
sovereign  who  has  ruled  England.  His  manners  were  gentle 
and  refined;  his  taste  in  art  and  literature  was  unblemished. 
His  fatal  defect  as  a  king  was  that  falsity  of  character  which 
canceled  the  most  solemn  agreements  and  robbed  him  of  all 
claims  to  confidence.  Perhaps  it  was  his  misfortune,  rather 
than  his  crime,  that  he  was  unable  to  believe  in  the  wisdom 
or  even  the  honesty  of  any  theory  of  government  but  his  own, 
or  to  perceive  that  his  throne  could  never  be  firm  until  it  was 
' ' broad-based  upon  the  people's  will." 

A  few  days  after  his  death,  the  Commons  voted  to  abolish 
the  House  of  Lords  and  the  monarchy,  and  to  prepare  a  new 


182 


Great  Seal  bearing  the  date :  ' 6  The  first  year  of  freedom,  by 
God's  blessing  restored,  1648." 

RECAPITULATION. 

King  and  Parliament  appeal  to  arms.  Death  of  Hampden  at  Chal- 
grove  Field.  Victory  of  the  King  at  Devizes.  Bristol  taken  by  Prince 
Rupert.  "Solemn  League  and  Covenant"  unites  Parliament  with  the 
Scots.  Rupert  besieges  York  ;  is  routed  at  Marston  Moor.  Dissensions 
between  Presbyterians  and  Independents.  "Self-denying  Ordinance" 
removes  noblemen  from  command  of  Parliamentary  armies.  Good 
conduct  of  Cromwell's  soldiers  contrasted  with  disorders  of  the  Cav- 
aliers. Victory  of  Fairfax  at  Naseby.  The  King  takes  refuge  with 
the  Scots,  who  surrender  him  to  the  English.  Persecuting  Act  of 
Parliament.  Col.  Pride  expels  the  royalist  members;  the  remnant 
vote  the  trial  of  the  King  for  treason.  He  denies  the  competence 
of  the  court.  Intercessions  of  Scots,  Dutch,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales 
fail  to  save  him.  Execution  of  Charles  I.  at  Whitehall.  Abolition 
of  monarchy  in  England.    The  Commonwealth  proclaimed. 


IV.  THE  COMMONWEALTH  (A.  D.  1649-1660.) 


HE  execution  at  Whitehall  in- 
volved the  Parliament  in  a  new 
and  greater  difficulty.  It  de- 
stroyed a  captive  king,  and,  in 
the  view  of  all  royalists,  thereby 
gave  England  an  active  young 
sovereign,  safe  beyond  the  reach 
of  his  enemies,  and  who,  though 
a  much  worse  man  than  his 
father,  had  not  yet  shown  any 
of  the  faults  which  had  been 
the  destruction  of  the  elder 
Charles.  The  Scots,  whose 
"Covenant"  bound  them  to 
the  support  of  monarchy,  immediately  proclaimed  Charles  II. 
as  their  king ;  and  several  important  towns  in  Ireland,  casting 
off  the  authority  of  the  Parliament*  also  acknowledged  him. 
The  strength  of  the  Independents  was  in  their  army  of  50,000 
men,  and  in  the  iron  will  of  Cromwell,  who  was  now  ap- 
pointed Lord  Lieutenant  and  Governor  of  Ireland. 

345.  He  took  Drogheda  and  Wexford  by  storm,  and  put 
the  garrison  to  the  sword,  in  stern  retaliation  for  the  massa- 
cres of  the  English  (§  326).  Terrified  by  this  severity,  town 
after  town  opened  its  gates  at  Cromwell's  approach.  The 
next  year,  the  Marquis  of  Ormond,  Charles's  lieutenant,  left 
the  island,  and  more  than  40,000  royalists  enlisted  in  the 
wars  of  France,  Spain,  or  Austria.  The  most  troublesome 
elements  being  thus  drawn  off,  Ireland  enjoyed  such  quiet- 
ness as  she  had  not  known  in  centuries. 

(183) 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1650. 


346.  The  brave  and  loyal  Marquis  of  Montrose  had, 
meanwhile,  been  defeated  in  Scotland  and  betrayed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Covenanters,  who  put  him  to  death  in  the  most 
cruel  and  insulting  manner.  The  young  King  disowned  his 
enterprise  after  he  heard  of  its  failure,  though  it  had  been 
undertaken  with  his  approval  and  promise  of  support.  Charles 
was  not  permitted  to  land  in  Scotland  until  he  had  signed 
the  Covenant ;  and  the  daily  and  hourly  sermons  and  exhorta- 
tions to  which  he  was  afterward  subjected,  seemed  to  the  gay 
young  Prince  a  dear  price  to  pay  for  his  comfortless  crown. 
He  was  made  to  publish  a  proclamation  declaring  himself 
humbled  in  spirit  and  afflicted  for  his  father's  tyranny  and  his 
mother's  idolatry.  Still  no  man  trusted  him,  and  he  was  king 
only  in  name,  the  real  power  remaining  where  it  had  been 
before, — with  the  Scottish  Parliament. 

347.  Cromwell,  returning  from  Ireland,  was  made  Captain- 
general  of  all  the  forces  in  England.  He  invaded  Scotland, 
gained  a  remarkable  victory  over  the  Scotch  at  Dunbar,  and 
followed  up  his  advantage  by  seizing  Edinburgh  and  Leith. 
Charles  was  not  sorry  for  this  defeat  of  his  jailers,  for  it 
forced  them  to  treat  him  with  greater  respect.    He  was 

crowned  at  Scone,  and,  the  next  summer,  took 

Jan.,  1651.  .  s 

the  bold  resolution  of  marching  into  England. 
He  hoped  to  be  joined  by  many  royalists;  —  in  any  case,  he 
would  force  Cromwell  to  leave  Scotland,  in  order  to  fight 
him.  The  first  hope  was  disappointed;  the  second  was  ful- 
filled far  beyond  his  wishes. 

348.  Cromwell,  by  a  sudden  march,  surprised  Worcester, 
where  the  King  had  arrived;  and,  in  a  fiercely  fought  con- 
test, either  killed  or  captured  the  entire  Scottish  army. 
Charles  himself  became  a  fugitive,  and  wandered  six  weeks 
in  various  disguises.  At  one  time,  concealed  in  the  thick 
branches  of  an  oak,  he  saw  and  heard  his  pursuers  pass  be- 
neath him.  A  great  reward  was  offered  for  his  betrayal, 
while  those  who  concealed  him  were  threatened  with  death; 


A.  D.  1652.]  THE  COMMONWEALTH, 


but  forty  men  and  women,  mostly  poor  laborers,  were  at 
different  times  safely  intrusted  with  his  secret.  At  length  he 
embarked  at  Shoreham,  and  arrived  safely  in  France,  where 
he  became  a  pensioner  of  his  young  cousin,  King  Louis  XIV. 

349.  Scotland  was  subdued  by  Gen.  Monk,  in  a  campaign 
as  terribly  severe  as  was  that  of  Cromwell  in  Ireland.  The 
inhabitants  of  Dundee  were  put  to  the  sword ;  and  Aberdeen 
and  many  other  towns  and  forts  hastened  to  make  their  sub- 
mission to  the  English  Commonwealth.  Ireton,  who  had 
completed  the  conquest  of  Ireland,  died  at  Limerick,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Gen.  Ludlow.  The  Puritan  colonies  in 
New  England  rejoiced  in  the  triumph  of  their  party  at  home. 
The  other  American  settlements  were  compelled  to  acknowl- 
edge the  Commonwealth. 

350.  England,  after  years  of  humiliation,  had  a  government 
which  could  command  order  at  home  and  respect  abroad,  as 
in  the  days  of  Elizabeth.  The  war-making  power  was,  for 
the  first  time,  in  the  same  hands  with  the  purse-strings,  while 
the  abolition  of  rank  and  titles  opened  a  free  career  to  all 
talents  and  energies;  so  that  men  rose  to  high  commands 
who,  in  earlier  or  later  times,  might  have  lived  and  died  in 
obscurity.  Among  these  was  Admiral  Blake,  who  made  the 
English  navy  more  famous  than  it  ever  had  been  before. 
Prince  Rupert  was  now  cruising  in  the  Atlantic.  Blake  with 
his  fleet  drove  him  into  the  Tagus;  and  when  the  King  of 
Portugal  refused  to  admit  the  pursuers,  they  revenged  them- 
selves by  seizing  twenty  richly  laden  vessels  belonging  to  His 
Majesty,  who  was  only  permitted  to  renew  his  alliance  with 
England  by  a  humble  apology  and  submission. 

351.  The  neighboring  republic  of  Holland  was  the  next  to 
feel  the  increase  of  English  power.  An  arbitrary  Navigation 
Act  forbade  foreign  captains  to  bring  into  English  ports  any 
merchandise  which  was  not  the  growth  or  manufacture  of 
their  own  country.  This  was  aimed  at  the  Hollanders,  whose 
country  was  small,  but  whose  merchant  fleet  was  the  largest 

Eng. — 16. 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1652. 


in  the  world,  and  who  subsisted  in  great  measure  by  the 
carrying  trade  between  foreign  ports. 

352.  Without  waiting  for  a  formal  declaration  of  war,  the 
fiery  spirits  of  Blake  and  Van  Tromp,  the  Dutch  admiral, 
sprang  to  arms.  Many  battles  were  fought  in  the  Channel 
during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1652.  After  one  victory, 
Van  Tromp  affixed  a  broom  to  his  main-mast  and  sailed  up 
and  down  the  Channel,  expressing  his  determination  to  sweep 
the  English  from  the  seas.  The  most  obstinate  of  all  these 
sea-fights  lasted  three  days,  off  Portland,  and  ended  in  an 
English  victory.  The  war  was  ended  in  1654,  by  a  defensive 
league  between  the  two  republics,  —  England  retaining  the 
honor  of  being  saluted  by  the  lowering  of  the  Dutch  flag, 
whenever  ships  of  the  two  nations  met  at  sea. 

353.  The  Long  Parliament  had  now  continued  thirteen 
years;  and  though  it  had  ceased  to  represent  the  wishes  of 
the  people,  there  was  no  power  legally  entitled  to  dismiss  it 
(§  3 2 5)-  Cromwell  resolved  upon  a  bold  stroke.  Repairing 
to  the  House  with  a  guard  of  soldiers,  he  heard  the  debates 
for  a  time  in  silence;  then  starting  to  his  feet,  reproached 
the  Parliament,  in  bitter  words,  with  its  tyranny,  ambition, 
and  robbery  of  the  people.  Then  stamping  with  his  foot,  as 
a  signal  for  his  soldiers  to  enter,  he  cried  out,  '  6  For  shame ! 
get  you  gone !  Give  place  to  honester  men !  You  are  no 
longer  a  parliament !  I  tell  you,  you  are  no  longer  a  parlia- 
ment !  The  Lord  has  done  with  you :  He  has  chosen  other 
instruments  for  carrying  on  His  work."  He  commanded  his 
soldiers  to  clear  the  hall  and  lock  the  doors. 

354.  The  Parliament  had  become  so  unpopular,  that  few 
seem  to  have  complained  of  Cromwell's  extraordinary  pro- 
ceeding. Addresses  of  congratulation  poured  in  from  the 
fleet,  the  army,  and  many  of  the  counties.    Cromwell,  by 

his  own  act,  then  summoned  a  new  parliament 

July,  1653.  '  .  1 

of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  members,  the 
first  in  which  representatives  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 


A.  D.  1655.]         CROMWELL,  PROTECTOR.  187 

land  sat  together  as  they  do  to-day.  But  this  assemblage  was 
in  its  turn  dissolved  within  six  months,  having  first,  by  a  new 
Instrument  of  Government,  conferred  sovereign  powers  upon 
Cromwell,  with  the  title  of  "  Lord  Protector"  for  life.  He 
bound  himself  to  summon  a  parliament  once  in  three  years, 
and  to  allow  them  to  sit  at  least  five  months  without  pro- 
rogation. 


Cromwell  dissolving  Parliament. 


An  insurrection  of  the  royalists  led  to  the  "decimation," 
as  it  was  called,  of  their  party, — that  is,  a  tax  of  the  tenth 
penny  on  all  their  revenues.  To  collect  this  tax,  England 
was  divided  into  ten  military  districts,  under  as  many  major- 
generals,  who  were  authorized  to  imprison  all  whom  they 
suspected. 

355-  Cromwell  made  his  power  felt  and  feared  by  the 


1 88  CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.     [A.  D.  1657. 

pirates  of  the  Barbary  coast,  and  by  the  Spaniards  both  in 
Europe  and  America.  From  the  latter  he  wrested  the  island 
of  Jamaica;  and  Blake  gained  his  greatest  victory  over  a 
Spanish  fleet  in  the  harbor  of  Santa  Cruz,  under  the  guns  of 
their  castle  and  seven  forts.  But  this  was  the  last  battle  of 
the  great  Admiral.  Already  consumed  by  disease,  he  has- 
tened homeward,  but  died  within  sight  of  his  native  shores. 
The  intervention  of  Cromwell  in  behalf  of  the  protestant 
Vaudois,  against  the  persecutions  of  their  Duke,  pleased  the 
English,  while  it  commanded  the  respect  of  the  whole  Con- 
tinent. In  alliance  with  France,  Cromwell  then  engaged  in 
the  war  against  Spain,  in  which  the  important  harbor  and 
fortress  of  Dunkirk  became  the  prize  of  the  English. 

356.  In  1657,  Parliament  offered  to  Cromwell  its  "  Humble 
Petition  and  Advice  "  that  he  would  assume  the  crown.  This 
was  meant  not  so  much  for  additional  honor  to  him  as  for 
security  to  the  nation.  An  existing  law  provided  that  no 
subject  should  be  accused  of  treason  on  account  of  his  alle- 
giance to  the  king  for  the  time  being,  whatever  disposition 
might  afterward  be  made  of  the  crown.  No  such  security 
existed,  in  case  of  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  for  those 
who  had  adhered  to  the  Protector.  But  such  a  step,  while 
contenting  the  moderate  and  timid  party,  would  have  offended 
the  army  and  all  stanch  Republicans,  and  Cromwell  refused 
to  take  the  crown.  He  was  reinvested  with  his  Protector- 
ship, however,  with  almost  royal  ceremony, — with  the  purple 
robe,  the  scepter,  and  the  sword, — and  was  permitted  to  name 
his  successor. 

357.  But  the  Protector  was  already  worn  out  by  cares  of 
state.  His  government,  even  in  the  judgment  of  his  enemies, 
had  been  energetic  and  successful  almost  beyond  precedent. 
The  religious  dissensions  which  had  troubled  England  more 
than  a  hundred  years,  were  quieted  by  Cromwell's  firm,  wise, 
and  tolerant  policy.  Even  the  Jews,  who  had  been  banished 
ever  since  Edward  I.,  were  quietly  permitted  to  return.  Yet, 


A.  D.  1660.]  DEATH  OF  CROMWELL. 


189 


in  managing  the  prejudices  of  the  nation,  Cromwell  had 
taken  greater  liberties  with  the  Parliament  than  even  Charles 
I.  had  done.  He  had  levied  taxes  without  the  consent  of 
Parliament;  and  when  a  sufferer  appealed  to  the  courts  for 
redress,  as  Hampde.n  had  done,  his  lawyers  were  arrested 
and  thrown  into  the  Tower.  The  Protectorate,  though  ably 
promoting  most  of  the  private  interests  of  the  people,  was  a 
tyranny  in  form,  and  Cromwell  painfully  felt  it  to  be  so. 

358.  Agents  fronl  the  court  of  Charles  II.,  at  Brussels  or 
Cologne,  were  constantly  raising  insurrections  among  the 
English  royalists,  or  lying  in  wait  to  murder  the  Protector. 
Cromwell  was  seized  with  a  slow  fever,  and  died 

Sept.  3,  1658. 

on  the  anniversary  of  his  great  battles  of  Dunbar 
and  Worcester.  His  eldest  son,  Richard,  succeeded  peace- 
ably to  the  Protectorship;  but  he  proved  wholly  unable  to 
hold  in  check  the  fierce  contentions  of  the  army  and  the 
Parliament.  Gen.  Lambert,  an  ambitious  man  who  coveted 
the  chief  power,  plotted  against  him ;  and  Richard,  rather 
than  meet  the  storm,  resigned  his  place. 

359.  The  council  of  military  officers  proceeded  first  to  set 
up  and  then  violently  put  down  the  still  surviving  remnant 
of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  appointed  in  its  place  a  Com- 
mittee of  Safety.  All  things  seemed  tottering  upon  the  edge 
of  a  fearful  abyss,  —  anarchy,  massacre,  and  universal  terror. 
But  Gen.  Monk,  who  had  been  Governor  of  Scotland,  now 
advanced  with  his  army  to  London.  He  required  the  Par- 
liament, which  had  reassembled,  to  fix  a  day  for  its  own  dis- 
solution, and  to  issue  writs  for  a  new  election. 

360.  The  nation  now  desired  a  return  to  its  ancient  form 
of  government,  and  the  new  Parliament,  or  Convention,  was 
largely  composed  of  royalists.  Gen.  Monk,  however,  had  not 
waited  for  Parliament  to  name  the  conditions :  he  was  already 
in  correspondence  with  the  King.  It  only  remained  for  the 
two  Houses  —  for  the  nobles  again  took  their  seats  (§  143)  — 
to  vote  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy,   and  to  accept 


190  CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1660. 

Charles's  Declaration,  published  at  Breda  in  Holland,  as  a 
guarantee  of  the  safety  of  England  under  his  reign.  The 
King  was  proclaimed  with  great  solemnity  in  London,  May, 
1660;  and  a  committee  of  lords  and  commons  crossed  the 
sea,  inviting  him  to  come  and  take  possession  of  his  throne. 


RECAPITULATION. 


Charles  II.  is  proclaimed  king  in  Scotland  and  acknowledged  in 
Ireland.  Cromwell's  severe  settlement  of  Irish  affairs.  Montrose  in 
Scotland  is  defeated  and  slain  by  the  Covenanters.  Charles  II.  is 
compelled  to  sign  the  Covenant  and  disavow  acts  of  his  parents. 
Cromwell's  victory  at  Dunbar ;  he  takes  Edinburgh.  Charles  invades 
England;  is  defeated  by  Cromwell  at  Worcester;  takes  refuge  in 
France.  American  colonies  acknowledge  the  Commonwealth.  En- 
ergetic policy  of  the  government.  Blake's  naval  victories.  War  with 
Holland  ends  in  advantage  to  the  English.  Cromwell  dissolves  the 
Long  Parliament;  summons  "Little"  or  "  Barebones's  Parliament"; 
becomes  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth;  levies  tax  on  royalists; 
wrests  Jamaica  from  Spain  ;  protects  Vaudois  from  persecution  ;  gains 
Dunkirk ;  refuses  the  crown,  but  is  reinstated  with  the  Protectorship  ; 
permits  return  of  the  Jews;  dies;  is  succeeded  by  his  son  Richard, 
who  soon  resigns.  Threatened  anarchy  prevented  by  restoration  of 
Charles  II. 


V.  THE  RESTORATION. 


[ARLES  II.  (A.  D.  1660-1685) 
entered  London  on  his  thirtieth 
birthday,  May  29th,  while  bells 
rang,  bonfires  blazed,  and  songs 
and  shouts  testified  the  frenzied 
joy  of  the  people.  They  were 
relieved,  in  fact,  from  a  great 
anxiety;  for  it  had  been  doubt- 
ful who  could  take  up  the  govern- 
ment which  Cromwell's  strong 
hand  had  dropped ;  and  men 
hoped  that  exile  and  adversity 
would  have  trained  the  prince 
His  first  act  promised  well :  a 
general  pardon  was  proclaimed,  except  to  the  few  who  were 
immediately  concerned  in  the  death  of  Charles  I. 

A  silly  and  base  revenge  was,  indeed,  taken  upon  the  life- 
less remains  of  Cromwell,  Ireton,  and  Bradshaw,  which  were 
dragged  from  their  tombs  and  hung  upon  the  gallows  at  Ty- 
burn, a  mark  for  the  drunken  insults  of  those  who  had  feared 
them  in  life.  Milton,  *  one  of  the  best  and  greatest  men  of 
the  age,  was  deprived  of  his  employments,  and  barely  escaped 
with  his  life,  for  having  written  a  noble  "Defense  of  the 
English  People"  in  their  controversy  with  Charles  I.  ;  while 
Monk  was  rewarded  for  his  treason  to  his  late  associates  by 
becoming  Duke  of  Albemarle  and  General-in-chief. 


*  Milton's  greatest  poem,  "  Paradise  Lost," — one  of  the  greatest 
of  all  ages,  —  was  published  seven  years  after  Charles's  accession. 
Dryden,  who  belongs  to  a  lower  rank  of  poets,  degraded  a  fine  genius 
by  subserviency  to  the  Court. 

(190 


Plague  in  London. 


to  a  wise  and  useful  king. 


192 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.     [A.  D.  1661. 


362.  In  Scotland,  the  ' 6  Drunken  Parliament,"  far  surpass- 
ing the  English  in  its  wild  loyalty  to  Charles,  annulled  all  the 
acts  of  its  predecessors  for  twenty-eight  years,  and  ordered  to 

execution  the  noble  leader  of  the  Presbyterians, 

May,  1661.  .  . 

the  Marquis  of  Argyle  (§  339).  Church  affairs 
in  both  kingdoms  were  restored  as  nearly  as  possible  to  their 
condition  under  James  I.  Every  civil  officer  was  required  to 
receive  the  Communion  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church 
of  England,  to  renounce  the  ' '  Covenant, "  and  take  an  oath 
declaring  that  no  circumstance  could  ever  make  it  lawful  to 
resist  the  King. 

An  Act  of  Uniformity  compelled  all  clergymen  to  declare 
their  full  assent  to  every  thing  contained  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  Rather  than  take  this  burden  upon  their 
consciences,  2,000  ministers,  the  most  learned  and  distin- 
guished in  the  country,  resigned  their  livings.  The  Con- 
venticle Act  forbade  the  meeting  of  more  than  five  persons 
at  one  place  and  time  for  worship,  except  by  the  use  of  the 
Liturgy ;  and  the  Five  Mile  Act  subsequently  made  it  a  crime 
for  any  dispossessed  clergyman  even  to  approach  within  the 
distance  named  of  his  former  parish.  The  penalties  for  dis- 
obedience were  fines,  imprisonment,  and  transportation.  The 
Quakers,  whose  consciences  forbade  them  to  bear  arms  or  to 
take  oaths,  were  imprisoned  to  the  number  of  12,000. 

363.  These  were  the  acts  of  the  royalist  Council  and  Par- 
liament ;  for  the  careless  good-nature  of  the  King  unfitted  him 
for  a  persecutor.  So  far  as  he  sincerely  held  any  religion  at 
all,  Charles  was  a  Roman  Catholic ;  and  he  sometimes  insisted 
upon  indulgence  for  dissenters,  in  order  to  shield  the  Romish 
"  recusants."  But  the  shameless  licentiousness  of  his  court 
alarmed  and  disgusted  even  his  best  friends  and  warmest 
adherents.  Though  Parliament  had  conferred  upon  him  a 
greater  revenue  than  his  father  had  ever  enjoyed,  his  con- 
stant want  of  money  led  him  to  sell  Dunkirk,  the  one 
result  of  Cromwell's  victories  (§  355),  to  the  French,  —  a 


A.  D.  1667.]     WAR,  PESTILENCE,  AND  EIRE. 


193 


national  disgrace  which  the  English  people  considered  the 
greatest  that  had  befallen  them  since  the  loss  of  Calais 

<§  281)- 

364.  England  was  at  the  same  time  drained  by  a  costly 
war  with  the  Dutch,  who  had  the  French  and  the  Danes  for 
allies.  The  King's  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  distinguished 
himself  in  naval  command,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  lands 
on  the  Hudson  River  in  America,  which  had  been  wrested 
from  the  Dutch.    The  chief  city  of  the  province 

A.  D.  1664. 

changed  its  name  from  New  Amsterdam  to  New 
York  ;  and  the  fort  and  trading  station  150  miles  to  the  north- 
ward was  named  Albany,  from  the  Duke's  Scottish  title.  The 
fighting  in  the  British  waters  was  obstinate  and  fierce.  One 
battle  lasted  four  days,  and  was  at  last  undecided.  Another, 
three  weeks  later,  resulted  in  victory  to  the  English. 

365.  While  negotiations  for  a  peace  were  in  progress  at 
Breda,  King  Charles,  thinking  to  save  the  Parliament's  last 
subsidy  for  his  own  pleasures,  neglected  to  maintain  the  fleet. 
The  Dutch,  seizing  the  opportunity,  sailed  boldly  up  the 
Thames,  captured  Sheerness,  burned  many  ships,  and  threat- 
ened London  itself.  But  Louis  XIV.,  who  only  wanted  the 
two  great  maritime  powers  to  wear  each  other  out,  now  with- 
drew his  aid  from  the  Hollanders,  and  peace  was  signed  at 
Breda,  July,  1667. 

Two  great  calamities  at  home  had  been  added,  the  pre- 
ceding year,  to  humiliation  abroad.  The  Plague,  which  in 
that  century  was  always  lurking  in  the  narrow  and  undrained 
alleys  of  London,  spread  over  the  city  and  destroyed  in  six 
months  100,000  lives.  It  was  followed  by  the  Great  Fire, 
which  destroyed  13,000  dwellings  and  90  churches,  with 
merchandise  beyond  account*  This,  indeed,  was  not  an  un- 
mixed calamity;  for,  perhaps,  nothing  but  the  flames  could 
have  removed  the  deadly  infection  of  the  Plague.  The  re- 
built streets  were  wider,  and  the  city  became  healthier  than 
ever  before. 

Eng.— 17. 


i94 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS,      [A.  D.  1667. 


366.  The  Chancellor,  Lord  Clarendon,  was  blamed  by  die 
people  as  die  cause  of  the  disgraces  in  the  Dutch  war. 
Though  he  had  been  the  King's  faithful  friend  throughout 
his  exile,  he  wearied  Charles  by  his  virtues  as  much  as  the 
people  by  his  toryism ;  and  court  and  Parliament  now  agreed 
that  he  should  be  the  victim  of  the  popular  displeasure.  He 
was  not  only  deprived  of  the  Great  Seal,  but  impeached  and 
sentenced  to  banishment. 

The  control  of  affairs  now  rested  with  five  noblemen,  * 
who  are  commonly  known  as  the  Cabal.  Their  initials 
formed  this  word,  which,  however,  was  the  usual  name  for 
a  king's  cabinet,  or  secret  committee  of  administration.  Its 
first  action  was  honorable  to  England.  Through  the  media- 
tion of  Sir  William  Temple  with  De  Witt,  chief  minister  of 
^  the  Dutch  Republic,  a  league  was  made  of  Hol- 
land, Sweden, 'and  England  against  the  growing 
power  of  France.  Louis  XIV.  desired  to  push  his  northern 
frontier  to  the  Rhine,  by  robbing  Spain  of  her  dependent 
provinces;  but  the  ' 'Triple  Alliance"  forced  him  to  make 
peace  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  abandon  for  a  time  his  conquest 
of  the  Netherlands. 

367.  Charles  very  soon  descended  from  the  high  position 
in  which  this  treaty  had  placed  him.  In  a  secret  bargain 
negotiated  at  Dover  with  the  King  of  France,  he  agreed  to 
declare  himself  a  Romanist  and  join  Louis  in  a  war  against 
the  Dutch,  for  a  yearly  pension  of  3,000,000  francs.  In  case 
of  his  change  of  religion  exciting  disturbance  in  England, 
Louis  promised  an  army  of  6,000  men  to  put  it  down. 

England  was  now  at  the  lowest  point  of  her  humiliation. 
Under  Elizabeth,  she  had  been  second  only  to  Spain,  if  to 
any  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe,  With  the  accession  of 
James  L,  she  descended  to  a  second  rank.  The  eight  years 
of  Cromwell's  vigorous  rule  raised  her  again  to  a  command- 


*  Clifford,  Ashley,  Buckingham,  Arlington,  and  Lauderdale. 


A.  D.  1678.] 


THE  POPISH  PLOT. 


J95 


ing  position ;  and  an  English  embassador  who  resided  at  the 
French  court,  both  before  and  after  the  Restoration,  bore 
witness  that  he  was  treated  with  far  greater  respect  as  the 
minister  of  Cromwell  than  as  the  representative  of  Charles  II., 
though  the  latter  was  the  French  King's  cousin. 

368.  When  the  disgraceful  "Treaty  of  Dover"  became 
known,  the  people,  who  remembered  the  persecutions  of 
Mary  and  the  plots  against  Elizabeth,  felt  themselves  basely 
betrayed;  and  their  terror  was  increased  by  the  open  pro- 
fession of  Romanism  by  the  Duke  of  York,  who  was  heir- 
apparent  to  the  crown.  In  obedience  to  the  "Test  Act," 
the  Duke  laid  down  his  commission  as  Lord  High  Admiral; 
and  his  resignation  was  followed  by  hundreds  of  others  in  the 
military  and  civil  service. 

An  infamous  adventurer,  Titus  Oates,  availed  himself  of 
the  excitement  to  spread  rumors  of  a  u  Popish 

.  1  A.  D.  1678. 

Plot"  to  kill  the  King,  burn  London,  massacre 
all  the  Protestants,  and  crown  the  Duke  of  York,  on  condi- 
tion of  his  holding  the  kingdom  as  the  gift  of  the  Pope. 
The  whole  story  was  made  up  of  the  boldest  falsehoods ;  but 
the  fears  of  the  people  had  destroyed  their  power  of  judg- 
ment. Godfrey,  the  magistrate  before  whom  Oates  had  made 
his  first  deposition,  was  found  dead  in  a  field;  and  it  was 
assumed  that  the  Jesuits  had  committed  the  murder,  in  order 
to  silence  the  disclosures.  Oates  had  the  insolence  to  accuse 
even  the  Queen  *  of  being  accessory  to  the  plot.  The  re- 
wards offered  for  further  information  brought  forward  a  crowd 
of  equally  infamous  spies  and  informers,  who  vied  with  each 
other  in  setting  afloat  each  day  some  new  story  more  exciting 
and  atrocious  than  the  last. 

369.  Oates  became  the  most  distinguished  man  in  England. 

*  Charles,  soon  after  his  accession,  had  married  a  Portuguese 
princess,  Catherine  of  Braganza,  who  brought,  as  part  of  her  dowry, 
the  important  fortresses  of  Tangiers  in  Africa  and  Bombay  in  Hin- 
dustan. 


196 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.     [A.  D.  1679. 


He  strutted  about  in  lawn  sleeves  like  those  of  a  bishop,  had 
a  guard  to  protect  him,  and  enjoyed  an  ample  pension.  Five 
Catholic  noblemen  were  thrown  into  the  Tower  and  im- 
peached ;  and  one  of  them,  the  venerable  Lord  Stafford,  was 
beheaded.  The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  took  advantage  of  the 
excitement  to  obtain  a  law  excluding  Romanists  from  sitting 
in  either  House  of  Parliament;  and  this  law  continued  in 
force  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  A  still  stronger  effort  was 
made  to  pass  the  Exclusion  Bill,  as  it  was  called,  preventing 
the  accession  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  the  throne.  It  passed 
the  Commons  in  May,  1679;  but  t0  prevent  its  going  to  the 
Lords,  the  King  dissolved  the  Parliament.  * 

370.  The  election  which  followed  proved  so  unfavorable 

to  his  wishes,  that  he  prorogued  the  new  Parliament  on  the 

very  day  when  it  should  have  met;  and  by  repeating  this 

action,  kept  it  from  meeting  for  a  whole  year. 
Oct.,  1680.  1  to  .  J 

When  it  was  at  last  permitted  to  assemble,  it  took 

up  the  Exclusion  Bill  and  was  again  dissolved.  A  third  Par- 
liament was  convened  at  Oxford,  but  it  showed  precisely  the 
same  spirit  as  its  predecessors,  and  was  dissolved  after  only 
seven  days'  session. 

During  these  excitements,  the  nation  was  rent  into  two 
parties  of  Petitioners  and  Abhorrers,  —  the  first  calling  loudly 
for  the  meeting  of  Parliament,  the  second  expressing  their 
abhorrence  of  any  who  would  presume  to  dictate  to  the 
King.    The  names  of  "Whig"  and  "Tory"  which  arose  at 


*  This  Parliament  is  worthy  of  grateful  mention  for  the  passage  of 
the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  which  effectually  prevents  arbitrary  or  pro- 
longed imprisonments.  By  its  provisions  every  prisoner  is  entitled  to 
a  hearing  during  the  first  term  of  court  after  his  arrest;  and  every 
jailer,  upon  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  granted  by  the  judge,  is  bound  to 
produce  his  prisoner  in  court  and  show  the  cause  of  his  imprisonment. 
This  Act  only  reaffirmed  a  principle  recognized  in  English  law  ever 
since  Magna  Charta ;  and  it  is  enforced  in  every  country  which  has 
derived  its  ideas  of  law  and  justice  from  England. 


A.  D.  1683.] 


RYE  HOUSE  PLOT. 


197 


the  same  time,  with  nearly  the  same  application,  have  lasted 
almost  to  our  own  day. 

371.  The  death  of  the  innocent  Lord  Stafford  turned  the 
popular  rage  against  "Papists"  into  pity  and  remorse,  and 
no  more  blood  was  shed  for  the  "  Popish  Plot."  The  whole 
tribe  of  informers,  finding  their  vile  trade  destroyed,  passed 
over  to  the  opposite  party,  and,  as  states'  evidence,  con- 
tributed to  the  ruin  of  those  who  had  employed  them. 
Another  plot,  more  real  but  not  less  iniquitously  prosecuted, 
was  brought  to  light  in  1683.  Several  ruffians  had  formed 
a  plan  to  waylay  and  shoot  the  King  and  his  brother  as  they 
passed  a  certain  farm  called  the  Rye  House,  on  their  way  to 
the  races  at  Newmarket.  The  scheme  was  detected  and  its 
authors  were  put  to  death. 

372.  But  there  were  six  conspirators  of  high  rank  who  de- 
sired a  change  in  the  principles  of  government,  though  prob- 
ably none  of  them  meant  any  personal  harm  to  the  King. 
These  were  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  the  King's  own  son  by 
a  low-born  mother,  Lord  Russell,  the  Earl  of  Essex,  Lord 
Howard,  Algernon  Sidney,  and  John  Hampden,  grandson 
of  the  great  Parliamentary  leader.  Russell  desired  only  the 
exclusion  of  the  Duke  of  York  from  the  succession,  and  a 
return  to  just  government  under  the  present  king  and  consti- 
tution. Sidney  was  a  Republican  by  principle,  and  had  op- 
posed Cromwell's  protectorship  as  well  as  Charles's  restora- 
tion; but  he  was  not  a  murderer.  The  plans  of  the  Whig 
leaders  had  probably  no  connection  with  the  "Rye  House 
Plot " ;  yet  they  were  arrested  on  the  accusation  of  one  of 
the  conspirators,  and  their  views  were  betrayed  by  one  of 
their  own  number,  Lord  Howard.  Essex  died  in  prison; 
Russell  and  Sidney  were  beheaded ;  the  Duke  of 

J  '  A.  D.  1683. 

Monmouth,  who  had  run  away  when  the  conspir- 
acy first  came  to  light,  received  the  King's  pardon  and  was 
permitted  to  come  to  court ;  but  he  soon  disgusted  all  parties 
by  his  double  dealing,  and  was  again  banished. 


198  CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS,      [A.  D.  1679. 

373.  The  severities  of  Lauderdale,  as  Governor  of  Scot- 
land, had  already  driven  the  Covenanters  to  desperation. 
A  company  of  them  attacked  Sharp,  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  dragged  him  from  his  coach,  and  murdered  him 
upon  the  road  in  the  presence  of  his  daughter.  This  crime, 
of  course,  injured  their  cause  far  more  than  it  could  be  in- 
jured by  persecution.  Soldiers  were  now  ordered  to  break 
up  all  their  religious  assemblies;  and  the  Covenanters  met 
for  worship  only  in  the  wildest  recesses  of  the  hills,  all  the 
men  being  armed,  and  sentinels  posted  to  prevent  surprise. 

John  Graham  of  Claverhouse  distinguished  himself  beyond 
the  King's  other  officers  by  his  brutality  in  breaking  up  these 
assemblages.  Mothers  and  children  were  put  to  the  sword, 
after  seeing  their  protectors  murdered  with  needless  and 
wanton  atrocity.  At  one  time,  however,  Claverhouse  was 
routed  by  the  armed  Covenanters  whom  he  had  disturbed 
at  their  worship,  and  lost  thirty  of  his  troopers.  At  another, 
8,000  Covenanters  seized  upon  Glasgow;  but  Monmouth, 
who  then  enjoyed  his  father's  confidence,  defeated  them  in 
the  battle  of  Bothwell  Bridge. 

374.  The  King,  who  had  formerly  pleased  the  more  ex- 
treme Protestants  by  marrying  his  eldest  niece  to  William, 
Prince  of  Orange,  stadtholder  of  Holland,  now  took  another 
step  in  the  same  direction  by  the  espousal  of  her  sister  Anne 
to  a  brother  of  the  King  of  Denmark.  The  princesses  were 
the  only  children  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  were  next  after 
their  father  in  the  succession  to  the  throne.  Their  mother 
was  Anne  Hyde,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon.  After 
her  death,  James  married  an  Italian  princess,  Mary  Beatrice, 
of  Modena. 

375.  Early  in  1685,  the  King  had  an  attack  resembling 
apoplexy ;  and  after  lingering  a  few  days,  he  died  in  the 
fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age  and  the  twenty-fifth  of  his  reign. 
Charles  well  deserved  his  nickname  of  the  "  Merry  Mon- 
arch," by  his  sportive  manners  and  the  freedom  and  gayety 


A.  D.  1685.]  THE  MERRY  MONARCH. 


199 


of  his  court.  A  daring  epitaph,  written  by  one  of  his 
courtiers,  thus  described  him  : 

"  Here  lies  our  sovereign  lord  the  King, 
Whose  word  no  man  relies  on  ; 
Who  never  said  a  foolish  thing, 
Nor  ever  did  a  wise  one." 

To  which  Charles  pleasantly  retorted  '  6  that  it  might  be  very 
true;  for  his  words  were  his  own,  but  his  acts  were  his 
ministers'." 

RECAPITULATION. 

Joy  of  the  English  people  at  restoration  of  monarchy.  Charles  II. 
declares  amnesty  with  few  exceptions;  but  deprives  Milton  of  his  em- 
ployments ;  rewards  Monk  with  command-in-chief.  Execution  of  the 
Marquis  of  Argyle.  Persecution  of  non-conforming  clergy  and  Quak- 
ers. Charles  sells  Dunkirk  to  Louis  XIV.  In  war  with  the  Dutch, 
their  American  province  on  the  Hudson  becomes  New  York.  London 
is  visited  by  the  Plague  and  the  Great  Fire.  Exile  of  Lord  Clarendon. 
Rise  of  the  Cabal.  Triple  Alliance  of  England,  Holland,  and  Sweden 
against  France.  Charles  accepts  a  pension  from  Louis  XIV.  Rumor 
of  a  Popish  Plot  occasions  great  excitement ;  Romanists  are  excluded 
from  Parliament.  Detection  of  Rye  House  Plot  leads  to  unjust  exe- 
cution of  Russell  and  Sidney.  Persecution  of  Covenanters  in  Scotland. 
Daughters  of  the  Duke  of  York  marry  Protestant  princes.  Charles  II. 
dies  in  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  reign. 


VI.   REIGN  AND  ABDICATION  OF  JAMES  II. 


Capture  of  Monmouth. 


/AMES  II.  (A.  D.  1685-1688), 
lately  Duke  of  York,  succeeded 
without  immediate  opposition 
to  his  brother's  crown.  The  country 
had  been  proud  of  him  as  its  sailor 
prince;  and,  in  spite  of  the  recent 
agitations,  his  pledge  to  observe  the 
laws  and  protect  the  Church  was 
received  with  joyful  confidence.  Oates  (§§  368,  369)  was 
now  brought  to  trial  for  his  perjuries.  He  was  sentenced 
to  be  whipped  through  the  city  during  two  days,  to  stand 
in  the  pillory  five  times  every  year,  and  to  be  imprisoned 
during  life. 

377.  The  Duke  of  Monmouth  was  now  persuaded  to  make 
a  rash  invasion  of  England,  asserting  his  own  title  to  the 
crown.  He  accused  his  uncle  as  a  "traitor,  a  tyrant,  an 
assassin,  and  a  popish  usurper,"  charging  him  with  being 
the  author  of  the  fire  in  London  (§  365),  the  murder  of 
Godfrey  and  Essex  (§§  368,  372),  and  even  of  having  poi- 
soned the  late  King. 

Monmouth  was  so  beloved  by  the  people,  that  though  he 
(200) 


A.  D.  1685.]        MONMOUTH'S  REBELLION. 


201 


landed  in  England  with  only  one  hundred  followers,  he  was 
soon  at  the  head  of  six  thousand,  and  had  to  dismiss  many 
for  want  of  arms.  But  his  chief  confederate,  the  Earl  of 
Argyle,  *  was  taken  in  Scotland  and  beheaded.  Monmouth 
met  the  King's  forces  at  Sedgemoor  and  was  thoroughly  de- 
feated. Separated  from  all  his  followers,  he  was  found  lying 
in  a  ditch,  spent  with  hunger  and  fatigue.  He  was  admitted, 
after  many  entreaties,  to  his  uncle's  presence;  and,  throwing 
himself  on  his  knees,  begged  with  bitter  tears  that  his  life 
might  be  spared.  He  refused  to  buy  it,  however,  with  the 
betrayal  of  his  friends;  and  summoning  his  courage,  met 
death  upon  the  scaffold  with  firmness  and  submission. 

378.  James  exacted  a  bitter  vengeance  for  this  misguided 
attempt.  A  brutal  officer,  Col.  Kirke  by  name,  who  had 
learned  humanity  from  the  Moors  about  Tangiers,  was  ap- 
pointed to  deal  with  "Monmouth's  rebels."  Wherever  he 
and  his  "lambs"  appeared,  men  were  hurried  off  to  the 
gallows  without  even  an  inquiry  whether  they  were  innocent 
or  guilty;  and  he  insulted  their  death-agonies  by  rude  jests. 
He  was  succeeded  by  the  Chief  Justice,  George  Jeffreys,  — 
the  vilest  wretch  that  ever  bore  that  exalted  title,  and  whose 
judicial  murders  were  no  less  savage  than  the  military  execu- 
tions. Mrs.  Gaunt  and  Lady  Alice  Lisle  —  generous  and 
noble  women,  whose  only  crime  was  their  humanity  in  shel- 
tering fugitives  —  were  sentenced  to  death  :  the  one  was  burnt 
and  the  other  beheaded.  Those  who  were  spared  bought 
their  lives  with  their  entire  possessions,  which  went  to  enrich 
the  Chief  Justice. 

379.  The  King,  who  was  a  zealous  Romanist,  now  used 
his  supremacy  to  restore  his  three  kingdoms  to  the  ancient 
Church.  The  Test  Act  was  suspended,  and  all  high  offices 
were  given  either  to  Catholics  or  Dissenters,  with  whom  the 
King  was  compelled  to  make  common  cause  for  a  time,  while 


*  Son  of  the  great  Marquis,      323,  339,  362. 


202 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1688. 


opposing  the  established  Church.    His  Declaration  of  Indul- 
gence was  ordered  to  be  read  in  all  the  churches 

April,  1688.  ... 

during  divine  service.  The  Primate  and  six  other 
bishops,  venturing  to  remonstrate  against  this  illegal  act,  were 
seized  and  thrown  into  the  Tower.  Throngs  of  sympathizing 
people  lined  the  banks  of  the  Thames  as  they  passed  to  their 
prison ;  and  even  the  soldiers  who  guarded  the  venerable 
captives  fell  on  their  knees  and  begged  their  forgiveness  and 
blessing.  The  bishops  were  tried  in  Westminster  Hall  and 
acquitted,  to  the  rapturous  joy  of  the  people. 

380.  The  birth  of  an  infant  prince,  though  it  occasioned 
great  joy  to  the  King,  in  reality  hastened  his  fall.  The  people 
had  been  patiently  awaiting  the  accession  of  Mary,  Princess 
of  Orange;  but  the  appearance  of  her  little  brother  on  the 
scene  suddenly  destroyed  their  hopes.  The  best  minds  now 
perceived  that  the  nation  must  throw  itself  upon  its  right  of 
free  choice,  from  which  all  English  kings  derive  their  power ; 
and  urgent  appeals  were  sent  by  all  parties  in  England,  ex- 
cept the  Romanists,  begging  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  come 
and  free  them  from  misgovernment. 

381.  William  was  already,  by  circumstances  and  descent, 
the  champion  of  Protestantism  in  Europe.  The  brave  de- 
fender of  his  native  land  against  the  greedy  ambition  of 
Louis  XIV.,  he  the  more  readily  undertook  to  defend  the 
reformed  Church  of  England  against  the  kinsman  and  co- 
religionist of  Louis.  He  was,  moreover,  after  his  wife  and 
her  sister  Anne  (§  374),  the  next  heir  to  the  English  throne 

having,  like  them,  Charles  I.  for  his  grandfather. 

Nov.,  1688. 

(See  Table,  p.  206).  The  Prince  set  sail  from 
Holland  with  650  ships  and  13,000  men,  and  landed  at  Tor 
Bay  on  the  fifth  of  November. 

382.  James,  in  his  terror  at  the  first  news  of  the  invasion, 
tried  to  undo  the  mischief  he  had  done.  He  courted  the 
bishops,  reinstated  all  the  county  officers',  and  gave  back  the 


A.  D.  1689.]  FLIGHT  OF  JAMES  II 


203 


charters  of  London  and  other  cities,  which  he  had  most  ille- 
gally annulled.  But  it  was  too  late.  Nobles  and  gentry, 
army  officers,  and  even  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  with  his 
wife,  the  Princess  Anne,  deserted  the  cause  of  James,  and 
sent  in  their  submission  to  the  Prince  of  Orange.  The  Queen 
and  her  baby  son  fled  to  France;  and  the  King  himself  left 
his  palace  in  the  night,  threw  the  Great  Seal  into  the  Thames, 
and  was  silently  rowed  down  the  river  to  a  ship  which  he 
had  engaged  to  take  him  across  the  Channel. 

383.  Government  was  thus  dissolved  by  the  King's  own 
act.  The  mob  was  master.  Even  the  army,  which  James 
had  so  carefully  raised  to  maintain  his  unlawful  supremacy, 
was  disbanded  and  let  loose  upon  the  city.  In  this  dreadful 
crisis,  the  bishops  and  nobles  who  were  in  London  took  upon 
themselves  the  responsibility  of  government,  issued  orders  to 
the  commanders  of  forts,  the  fleet,  and  the  army,  and  opened 
communication  with  the  Prince  of  Orange. 

The  runaway  King  was  arrested  near  the  coast;  but  this 
was  unwelcome  news  to  the  authorities  in  London.  No  one 
wanted  to  harm  him :  the  nation  had  grown  wiser  since  his 
father's  execution,  and  it  was  only  desired  that  he  should  be 
safely  out  of  the  way.  It  was  therefore  made  easy  for  him 
to  escape  ;  and  after  waiting  awhile  for  an  invitation  to  resume 
his  throne,  he  secretly  took  ship  and  joined  his  family  in 
France.  Louis  XIV.  received  him  with  the  utmost  generos- 
ity, and  maintained  a  little  court  for  him,  with  his  impover- 
ished followers,  at  St.  Germains. 

384.  William  of  Orange  was  requested  to  assume  the  gov- 
ernment as  regent,  but  he  refused  until  the  will  of  the  whole 
nation  could  be  known.  Mary  also  refused  to  accept  the 
crown,  unless  her  husband  was  joined  with  her  in  equal  au- 
thority. A  convention  which  met  in  January,  1689,  declared 
the  throne  vacant  by  the  abdication  of  James,  and  settled  the 
crown  upon  William  and  Mary,  Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange; 
adding  to  the  Act  of  Settlement  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  which 


204  CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS. 


put  at  rest  all  the  points  of  dispute  between  sovereigns  and 
people.  It  was  afterward  extended  and  confirmed  in  the  Bill 
of  Rights,  which  has  been  called  the  Third  Great  Charter  of 
English  Freedom  (§  317). 

385.  In  spite  of  the  disorders  in  the  government,  England 
had  steadily  increased  in  industry  and  wealth  ever  since  the 
Restoration.  The  year  of  James's  accession  was  marked  in 
France  by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  which 
Henry  IV.  had  granted  for  the  protection  of  the  Huguenots, 
or  Protestants.  By  withdrawing  this  protection,  Louis  XIV. 
drove  half  a  million  of  his  most  industrious  and  thrifty  sub- 
jects into  exile,  and  enriched  other  countries  as  much  as  he 
impoverished  his  own.  Thousands  found  homes  in  England 
and  her  American  colonies,  and  planted  there  those  fine  man- 
ufactures for  which  the  Huguenots  were  celebrated.  To  this 
day,  the  large  proportion  of  French  names  among  the  silk- 
weavers  of  Spitalfields,  near  London,  marks  their  descent 
from  the  colony  of  exiles  for  conscience'  sake,  who  first  in- 
troduced that  industry  into  England. 

386.  The  reign  of  Charles  II.  was  a  great  era  in  science. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  discovered  the  wondrous  law  that  holds 
suns  and  planets  in  their  orbits;  Halley  commenced  his 
learned  investigations  of  tides,  comets,  and  the  earth's  mag- 
netism ;  Boyle  improved  the  air-pump,  and  studied  by  its  aid 
the  properties  of  the  atmosphere ;  Hobbes  and  Locke  dis- 
coursed of  the  human  mind,  its  laws  and  relations  to  matter. 
The  Royal  Society  of  Science  was  founded  in  the  year  of  the 
Restoration,  and  its  members  were  the  first  Englishmen  who 
engaged  in  the  really  scientific  study  of  minerals,  plants,  birds, 
fishes,  and  quadrupeds.  Many  foreign  painters  flourished  dur- 
ing this  period  at  the  English  court,  and  have  left  us  portraits 
of  all  its  famous  men  and  women.  Architecture  received  a 
new  impulse  from  the  Great  Fire  (§  365),  which  opened  a 
field  for  the  genius  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren.  He  designed  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral  as  it  now  stands,  and  many  other  churches. 


RISE  OF  NEWSPAPERS. 


205 


387.  Newspapers,  now  so  immense  a  power  in  the  civilized 
world,  made  their  first  humble  appearance  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.,  and  became  somewhat  more  important  in  his 
son's  time.  James  II.  subjected  them  to  a  censorship.  Far 
more  powerful  at  that  time  were  the  coffee-houses,  first  estab- 
lished in  London  under  Charles  II. ;  for  coffee  itself,  like  tea 
and  chocolate,  came  in  with  the  Restoration.  At  these  places 
of  entertainment  wits  freely  discussed  the  actions  of  the  gov- 
ernment ;  and  their  opinions  were  eagerly  heard  and  repeated 
by  a  crowd  of  listeners.  Nobles  and  gentry  living  in  the 
country  often  employed  correspondents  in  town,  to  inform 
them  of  current  matters  of  interest  in  government  and  soci- 
ety; and  by  means  of  "news-letters,"  written  or  printed,  the 
talk  of  the  capital  was  repeated  in  every  portion  of  the  land, — 
not  always  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  King's  ministers,  who 
made  some  ineffectual  attempts  to  stop  these  currents  of 
public  opinion  at  their  source. 

388.  It  has  been  said  that  Charles  I.  would  never  have 
rushed  so  blindly  upon  his  fate,  If  railways,  telegraphs,  and 
newspapers  had  existed  then  as  now.  The  King  was  ignorant 
of  the  temper  of  his  people.  The  means  of  communication 
were  worse  than  in  Turkey  to-day.  Roads,  even  at  the  end 
of  the  century,  were  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
meadows  and  marshes  which  they  traversed*  Six  horses  were 
needed  to  draw  a  coach  through  the  deep  mud;  and  all  the 
highways  were  infested  by  robbers. 

389.  Many  religious  sects  had  their  rise  in  these  times  of 
trouble  and  excitement.  Among  the  most  remarkable,  though 
not  the  most  numerous,  were  the  Quakers,  whose  founder  was 
George  Fox,  a  Lancashire  shepherd.  William  Penn,  one  of 
their  members,  received  a  grant  of  lands  on  the  Delaware 
River,  as  a  reward  for  his  father's  services  to  Charles  II., 
and  founded  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania.  The  justice  and 
brotherly  kindness  with  which  he  treated  the  savage  owners 
of  the  soil  preserved  his  settlement  from  the  dangers  to  which 


206 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS, 


others  were  subject;  and  Pennsylvania  long  enjoyed  the 
blessings  which  naturally  flow  from  thrift,  honesty,  and 
benevolence. 


James  II.  begins  his  reign  with  a  pledge  to  maintain  the  laws. 
Monmouth's  Rebellion  is  punished  by  death  of  its  leaders  and  mili- 
tary executions  in  the  western  counties.  The  King  attempts  to  restore 
Romanism  ;  imprisons  seven  bishops.  England  appeals  to  the  Prince 
of  Orange.  Upon  his  landing  in  Tor  Bay,  James  takes  flight  and  dis- 
solves the  government.  William  and  Mary  are  declared  King  and 
Queen  of  England. 

English  prosperity  increased  by  persecutions  in  France.  Progress 
of  science.  Rebuilding  of  London  after  the  Great  Fire.  Rise  of 
newspapers.  Political  influence  of  coffee-houses.  Imperfect  commu- 
nication through  the  country.  Rise  of  the  Quakers  and  other  re- 
ligious sects.    William  Penn  founds  Pennsylvania. 


RECAPITULATION. 


House  of  Stuart.    (See  p.  150.) 


James  I.  m.  Anne  of  Denmark. 


Charles  T.  m.  Henrietta 
Maria  of  France. 


Elizabeth  in.  Frederic,  Elector  Palatine. 


Sophia  m.  Ernest  Augustus,  Elector  of  Hanover. 
(See  p.  215.) 


Charles  II. 


James  II. 
m.  1,  Anne  Hyde, 


m.  2, 


Mary  of 


Modena. 


Mary  m. 
William, 

Prince  of  Orange. 


Mary  m. 
William  III. 


Anne  m. 
George  of 
Denmark. 


James  Francis 
Edward  Stuart, 
the  Old  Pretender. 


William, 
Prince  of  Orange 
(William  III.),  m 
Mary  of  England. 


Charles  Edward 
Stuart,  the  Young 
Pretender. 


VII.  WILLIAM  AND  MARY. 


r  a  bloodless  revolution, 
England  had  now  attained 
to  a  free  and  settled  govern- 
ment. The  will  of  the  na- 
tion had  been  recognized  in 
the  choice  of  William  and 
Mary  (A.  D.  1689-1694) 
for  its  sovereigns,  and  the 
Whig  party  naturally  came 
into  power.  King  William 
was  less  popular  than  the 
cause  which  he  represented. 
He  spoke  English  badly,  if 
at  all ;  was  naturally  cold  and 
reserved  in  his  manners ;  and 
though  an  able  general  and 
statesman,  lacked  the  easy 
grace  and  the  cultivated 
tastes  which  distinguished 

Massacre  of  GlenCoe.  the  Stliart  kings. 

391.  The  Scottish  Parliament  followed  the  example  of  the 
English  by  declaring  the  throne  vacant  and  proclaiming  Wil- 
liam and  Mary,  though  a  strong  party  in  the  Highlands  still 
held  out  for  James.  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  whose  brutali- 
ties toward  the  Covenanters  had  been  rewarded  with  the  title 
of  Viscount  Dundee,  defeated  William's  forces  at  the  pass  of 
Killiecrankie,  but  himself  received  a  mortal  wound.  His 
Highland  followers,  discouraged  by  their  loss,  were  soon 
either  scattered  or  subdued. 

The  MacDonalds  were  the  last  clan  to  avail  themselves  of 

(207) 


208 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1692. 


the  offered  pardon.  Their  oath  of  allegiance,  though  late, 
was  accepted ;  but  a  month  later,  a  company  of  their  deadly 
foes,  the  Campbells,  who  were  in  William's  service,  appeared 
at  Glencoe,  the  seat  of  the  MacDonalds.  Though  received 
Feb  169-  an<^  entertamed  for  twelve  days  with  friendly  hos- 
pitality, they  suddenly  attacked  their  hosts  and 
murdered  the  chief  with  thirty  of  his  clan.  The  rest, — 
chiefly  women  and  children, — under  cover  of  a  storm,  took 
refuge  in  the  mountains,  where  many  perished  of  cold  and 
hunger.  Sir  John  Dalrymple  is  mainly  responsible  for  the 
"  Massacre  of  Glencoe  "  ;  yet  King  William's  consent  to  it — 
though  excused  on  the  plea  of  neglect  to  read  the  order  which 
he  signed  —  must  remain  a  blot  on  his  name. 

392.  Ireland  was  the  last  battle-field  between  the  old  mon- 
arch and  the  new.  Only  two  towns,  Londonderry  and  En- 
niskillen,  declared  for  the  Protestant  King.  The  former  place 
was  besieged  by  James  II.,  who  with  his  cousin's  aid  had 
landed  at  Kinsale,  and  had  been  joined  by  a  disorderly  crowd 
of  50,000  men,  armed  chiefly  with  clubs.  The  siege  lasted 
one  hundred  and  five  days,  and  multitudes  died  in  the  streets 
of  fever  or  starvation ;  but,  at  last,  the  besiegers  had  to  with- 
draw, failing  to  wear  out  the  patient  resolution  of  the  people. 
On  the  same  day  the  Protestants  of  Enniskillen  gained  a  vic- 
tory over  James's  forces  at  Newtown  Butler;  and  a  few  days 
later,  Marshal  Schomberg,  a  Huguenot  general  in  William's 
service,  landed  with  10,000  men  and  besieged  Carrickfergus, 
which  was  quickly  taken. 

393.  The  next  summer  William  himself  came  over,  and  in 
}      6       the  great  battle  Of  the  Boyne  completely  destroyed 

u   1, 1  90.  rival's  hopes  in  Ireland.    A  naval  battle  off 

Beachy  Head,  the  day  before,  had  resulted  in  victory  to  the 
French;  but  the  fear  of  an  invasion  felt  ill  England  united 
the  people  against  the  "Jacobites,"  as  the  adherents  of  James 
were  called,  and  so  really  strengthened  the  Orange  party. 
Town  after  town  in  Ireland  surrendered  or  was  taken  by 


A.  D.  1694.] 


DEATH  OF  MARY  IL 


209 


storm ;  and  by  the  Pacification  of  Limerick,  the  whole  island 
accepted  William  as  its  king. 

394.  A  great  naval  battle  off  La  Hogue,  between  the  Dutch 
and  English  fleets  on  one  side,  and  the  French  on  the  other, 
defeated  the  project  of  an  invasion  of  England  by  King  James. 
But  William's  expensive  and  often  disastrous  wars  on  the  Con- 
tinent gave  rise  to  much  dissatisfaction ;  and  his  most  trusted 
ministers  were  ever  ready  to  open  a  correspondence  with 
James,  whenever  their  own  interests  seemed  likely  to  be 
furthered  by  it.  Even  the  Princess  Anne  (§§  381,  382)  was 
persuaded  by  her  intimate  friend,  Lady  Marlborough  (see 
§  400),  to  write  a  penitent  letter  to  her  father,  whom  she 
had  deserted  at  the  Revolution,  desiring  peace  and  recon- 
ciliation. 


Crown  Piece. 

395  •  On  one  of  the  last  days  of  1694,  Queen  Mary  died. 
She  had  been  sincerely  loved  by  her  husband,  and  he  never 
recovered  from  the  sadness  occasioned  by  her  loss.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Act  of  Settlement,  William  was  now 
sole  monarch  of  the  three  kingdoms.  The  first  "  ' 1694  I7°2' 
year  of  his  sole  reign  was  marked  by  the  abolition  of  the  cen- 
sorship of  the  press,  and  the  consequent  establishment  of  sev- 
eral newspapers.  "This  act,"  says  Lord  Macaulay,  "has 
done  more  for  liberty  and  civilization  than  the  Great  Charter 
or  the  Bill  of  Rights." 

Eng. — 18. 


2IO 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1697. 


396.  By  the  Peace  of  Ryswick,  1697,  Louis  XIV.  recog- 
nized William  as  the  only  lawful  King  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland,  and  solemnly  engaged  to  give  no  aid  to  any 
other  claimant.  The  two  life-long  foes  soon  afterward  en- 
tered into  a  treaty  for  the  partition  of  the  Spanish  dominions. 
The  Austrian  line  which  had  filled  the  throne  of  Spain  for 
nearly  two  hundred  years,  was  about  to  end  in  the  childless 
King  Charles  II. ;  and  the  succession  was  claimed  by  three 
heirs  of  Spanish  princesses  who  had  married  into  the  French 
and  Austrian  families.  Louis  XIV.,  who  was  both  cousin 
and  brother-in-law  of  the  Spanish  sovereign,  had  attempted 
to  seize  the  Netherlands  in  right  of  his  wife.  William  did 
not  look  for  increase  of  dominion  to  himself,  but  desired  to 
prevent  Louis  from  grasping  the  lion's  share,  and  thereby 
exalting  his  power  above  all  the  states  of  Europe. 

397.  The  First  Partition  Treaty  was  annulled  by  the  death 
of  the  nearest  heir  in  1699,  and  another  was  made  in  the 
following  year.  To  prevent  any  such  enormous  dominion 
as  that  of  Charles  V.  (§  249)  from  falling  again  into  the 
hands  of  one  man,  the  Emperor,  Leopold  L,  was  required 
to  cede  his  Spanish  claims  to  his  second  son,  the  Archduke 
Charles;  while  Louis,  in  turn,  conferred  his  rights  in  Spain 
upon  his  grandson,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  who  renounced  his 
hereditary  claims  to  the  throne  of  France.  But  the  Second 
Treaty  was  also  disregarded  by  Louis  as  soon  as  he  saw  his 
way  clear  to  gain  more  than  it  had  allotted  to  him.  The 
Duke  of  Anjou,  by  the  will  of  the  Spanish  King,  and  by 
force  of  arms,  became  at  last  King  Philip  V.  of  Spain,  and 
sovereign  of  all  her  rich  possessions  in  Asia  and  America. 

398.  On  the  death  of  James  II.  at  St.  Germains,  Louis, 
in  spite  of  all  his  agreements,  caused  James  Francis  Stuart 
(§  38°)  to  be  proclaimed  as  James  III.  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland.  This  defiant  act  was  fortunate  for  William,  for 
it  reunited  all  parties  in  England,  and  gave  them  immense 
zeal  for  the  ''War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,"  which  was  on 


A.  D.  1702.]         DEATH  OF  WILLIAM  III. 


211 


the  eve  of  breaking  out.  England  had  for  allies  the  Emperor 
and  the  Dutch  Republic,  who  asserted  the  claim  of  the  Arch- 
duke Charles  of  Austria  to  the  Spanish  throne.  The  House 
of  Commons  granted  supplies  with  unusual  readiness,  and 
begged  the  King  never  to  make  peace  until  Louis  had  atoned 
for  his  insult  to  the  whole  English  nation  in  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  Pretender.    (See  Table,  p.  206.) 

King  William's  health,  however,  was  now  failing.  A  fall 
from  his  horse,  breaking  his  collar-bone,  aggravated  his  dis- 
ease; and,  amidst  all  the  preparations  for  war,  he  died  at 
Hampton  Court,  March  8,  1702. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Whigs  gain  power  by  accession  of  the  House  of  Orange.  Opposi- 
tion in  Scottish  Highlands  ended  by  death  of  Dundee  and  massacre 
of  MacDonalds  at  Glencoe.  Siege  of  Londonderry  by  James  II.  fails; 
he  is  defeated  at  Newtown  Butler  and  in  battle  of  the  Boyne.  Ireland 
submits  to  William.  French  fleet  is  victorious  off  Beachy  Head,  but 
defeated  near  La  Hogue.  Death  of  Queen  Mary.  William  gives  free- 
dom to  the  press.  Peace  of  Ryswick  followed  by  treaties  with  France 
for  partition  of  the  Spanish  dominions.  Louis  XIV.  proclaims  "James 
III."  as  King  of  England,  and  Parliament  prepares  for  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession.    Death  of  King  William. 


VIII.  REIGN  OF  ANNE. 


IUT  few  of  the  Princess  Anne's 
many  children  had  survived 
their  infancy ;  and  the  last  of 
all,  George,  Duke  of  Glouces- 
ter, died  in  1700,  at  the  age 
of  eleven  years.  A  new  Act 
of  Settlement  soon  afterward 
confirmed  Anne's  claim  to 
succeed  her  brother-in-law, 
King  William,  but  provided 
for  the  accession,  after  her  death,  of  the  Electress  Sophia  of 
Hanover,  or  her  heirs.  * 

After  the  son  of  James  II.,  the  nearest  of  blood  was  the 
Duchess  of  Savoy,  who  was  a  granddaughter  of  Charles  I. ; 
but  she  was  excluded  under  the  law  forbidding  members  of 
the  Roman  Church  to  sit  upon  the  English  throne.    If  this 


Gibraltar. 


*  For  the  descent  of  the  House  of  Hanover  from  the  Stuarts,  see 
Table5  p.  215. 

(212) 


A.  D.  1707.]    MARLBOROUGH'S  CAMPAIGNS. 


213 


law  appears  intolerant,  we  must  remember  that  it  was  the 
civil  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  not  his  spiritual  claims,  that  the 
English  people  dreaded;  and  must  try  to  imagine  how  near 
to  them  were  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisition,  which  Philip  and 
Mary  had  so  nearly  fastened  upon  England. 

400.  Queen  Anne  (A.  D.  1702-17 14)  was  crowned  at 
Westminster,  April  23.  She  dismissed  William's  Whig  min- 
istry, but  announced  that  she  should  vigorously  pursue  his 
policy,  and  immediately  declared  war  against  France  and 
Spain.  The  Earl  —  soon  afterward  Duke  —  of  Marlborough 
was  appointed  to  command  her  armies  on  the  Continent, 
and  he  became  the  soul  of  the  "  Grand  Alliance."  Seldom 
has  the  world  seen  a  character  so  strangely  made  up  of  great 
and  contemptible  qualities  as  that  of  Marlborough.  6 6  He 
never  besieged  a  fortress  that  he  did  not  take,  nor  fought  a 
battle  which  he  did  not  win ; "  and  he  was  as  great  a  states- 
man as  general.  Nevertheless,  he  was  a  traitor  alike  to  James 
and  to  William,  revealing  the  military  plans  of  the  latter  to 
the  French,  in  the  hope  of  expelling  the  King  and  putting 
Anne  in  his  place ;  and  he  accumulated  an  enormous  fortune 
by  peculation  in  army  contracts. 

401.  In  concert  with  Eugene  of  Savoy,  the  imperial  gen- 
eral, Marlborough  executed,  in  1704,  his  most  brilliant  cam- 
paign, ending  with  the  battle  of  Blenheim,  by  which  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria  lost  all  his  conquests  and  even  his  hered- 
itary dominions.  Prussia  soon  afterward  joined  the  Grand 
Alliance.  The  same  year,  Admiral  Rooke  captured  the 
fortress  of  Gibraltar,  the  strongest  in  the  world,  which  has 
ever  since  continued  to  be  a  British  possession. 

.    .  May  23,  1706. 

By  a  great  victory  over  the  French  at  Ramilhes, 
Marlborough  conquered  Brabant  and  almost  the  whole  of 
Spanish  Flanders. 

402.  The  year  1707  was  distinguished  by  the  Union  of 
England  and  Scotland  under  the  name  of  Great  Britain. 


214 


CENTURY  OF  REVOLUTIONS.      [A.  D.  1707. 


This  event,  so  long  desired  by  the  English  kings  (§§  162, 
241,  264,  269),  had  been  attained  for  a  few  years  under 
Cromwell,  but  reversed  by  the  Restoration.  The  United 
Kingdoms  were  now  represented  by  one  Parliament,  to 
which  sixteen  peers  and  forty-live  commoners  were  elected 
from  Scotland.  Scotland,  like  England,  accepted  the  Elect- 
ress  Sophia  or  her  next  heir  as  its  future  sovereign.  (See 
Table,  p.  215.) 

•403.  Louis  XIV.,  now  old  and  infirm,  saw  fortune  turn 
against  him,  and  was  forced  to  beg  for  peace.  He  proposed 
that  his  grandson  should  give  up  the  Spanish  crown,  and 
content  himself  with  Naples  and  Sicily ;  bat  the  allies  refused 
him  even  these,  and  the  war  went  on.  Marlborough's  influ- 
ence at  home  was  now,  however,  undermined  by  the  Tories, 
who  accused  him  of  prolonging  the  war  in  order  to  increase 
his  profits  from  army  contracts.  His  wife's  violent  temper 
had  offended  the  Queen,  who  found  a  new  confidant  in  Mrs. 
Masham,  one  of  her  bed-chamber  women. 

404.  Events  abroad,  meanwhile,  altered  the  views  of  the 
English  ministers  concerning  the  Spanish  succession.  The 
Emperor  Joseph  I.  died,  and  his  brother,  the  Archduke 
Charles,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  If  now  he  made  good 
his  claim  to  the  crown  of  Spain,  the  world  would  see  another 
Austro-Spanish  dominion  overshadowing  all  Europe,  as  in  the 
days  of  Charles  V.  (§397).  Conferences  were  accordingly 
begun  at  Utrecht  in  Holland ;  and  on  the  last  day  of  March, 
1 7 13,  peace  was  signed  between  England  and  the  Dutch 
states  on  the  one  side,  and  France  on  the  other.  England 
kept  Gibraltar  and  Minorca,  the  two  keys  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean, and  received  from  France  Newfoundland  and  Hudson's 
Bay  in  North  America,  with  St.  Christopher's  in  the  West 
Indies.  Louis  agreed  also  to  demolish  the  fortifications  of 
Dunkirk,  which  had  been  a  nest  of  privateers  preying  on 
English  commerce.  In  return,  England  recognized  the 
French  King  of  Spain. 


A.  D.  17 14.]         LAST  OF  THE  STUARTS. 


21S 


405.  In  August,  1 7 14,  Queen  Anne  died.  The  aged 
Electress  Sophia  had  preceded  her  by  two  months, — order- 
ing a  crown  to  be  placed  on  her  coffin,  since  she  had  missed 
the  eagerly  desired  privilege  of  wearing  it  in  life.  As  a  lit- 
erary era,  Queen  Anne's  age  was  marked  rather  by  neatness 
and  polish  of  style  than  by  great  thoughts  or  deep  emotions. 
Pope  was  the  most  artificial  of  English  poets.  Addison,  one 
of  the  most  charming  prose-writers  in  our  language,  joined 
his  friend  Steele  in  producing  the  Tatler  and  afterward  the 
Spectator,  forerunners  of  the  literary  magazines  of  our  day. 

RECAPITULATION. 

By  new  Act  of  Settlement,  Parliament  confers  the  succession  to  the 
English  crown  upon  the  German  House  of  Brunswick.  Anne's  great 
general,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  gains  victories  for  the  Grand  Alli- 
ance, in  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  Gibraltar  taken  by  the  English. 
Union  of  England  and  Scotland.  Mrs.  Masham  succeeds  Duchess  of 
Marlborough  in  ascendancy  over  the  Queen.  Archduke  Charles  be- 
coming emperor,  Great  Britain  withdraws  from  the  Alliance  ;  makes 
peace  with  France  by  Treaty  of  Utrecht ;  recognizes  Philip  V.  as  King 
of  Spain.     Death  of  Electress  Sophia  and  of  Queen  Anne. 


House  of  Hanover  (Brunswick). 


.Sophia.    (See  page  206.) 
I 

George  I.  m.  Sophia  Dorothea  of  Zell. 
I 

George  II.  m.  Caroline  of  Brandenburg- Anspach. 
I 

Frederic,  Prince  of  Wales,  m.  Augusta  of  Saxe-Gotha. 
I 

George  III.  m,  Charlotte  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 

T  1  1  r 

George  IV.  m.  William  IV.       Edward,  Duke  of  Kent,  m.     Ernest,  Duke  of 

Caroline  of  Victoria  of  Saxe-Coburg.  Cumberland. 

Brunswick.  ■  King of  Hanover. 

I  Victoria  m.  Albert  of 

Charlotte  d.  1817.  Saxe-Coburg  and  Gotha. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW. 


PART  IV. 


1.  Describe  James  I.  of  England  and  his  theory  of  govern- 

ment. H  303,  305,  306,  313 

2.  The  last  years  of  Walter  Raleigh.  304 

3.  What  religious  parties  in  England  ?  306,  307,  389 

4.  What  colonies  were  planted  in  James's  time?  308,  309 

5.  Tell  the  story  of  Parliamentary  opposition  to  James  I.  and 

his  son.  3IO-3I2>  3I4~3I8,  324~327 

6.  Of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  and  the  French 

wars.  313,  317,  318 

7.  Of  John  Hampden.  316,  321,  322,  330 

8.  Of  Thomas  Wentworth.  319,  324 

9.  Of  Archbishop  Laud.  320,  324 

10.  Of  the  Long  Parliament. 

324,  325,  329,  331-333,  338,  339,  353,  359 

11.  Describe  its  war  policy.  35°~352 

12.  What  occurred  during  this  period  in  Ireland?    326,  344,  345,  349 

13.  Describe  the  army  of  Charles  I.  328,  334 

14.  The  beginning  of  the  Civil  Wars.  328-331 

15.  What  differences  among  the  King's  opponents?  332,  333,  337-339 

16.  Describe  Cromwell's  army.  334 

17.  The  captivity,  trial,  and  death  of  Charles  I.  336-343 

18.  Tell  the  history  of  Charles  II. 

344,  346-348,  358,  361,  363,  365,  367,  37o,  375 

19.  Of  Oliver  Cromwell.  322,  332-335,  339,  344~348,  353-35$ 

20.  Of  the  wars  of  the  Commonwealth.  350—352,  355 

21.  What  events  followed  the  death  of  Cromwell?  358-360 

22.  What  persecuting  acts  under  Charles  II.  ?  362,  373 

23.  What  calamities  visited  London  in  1666?  365 

24.  What  American  province  conquered  from  the  Dutch?  364 

25.  What  changes  in  England's  rank  among  European  powers 

within  a  hundred  years?  367 
(216) 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW. 


217 


26.  Describe  the  excitement  concerning  the  Popish  Plot.    %  368-371 

27.  The  Rye  House  Plot  and  its  victims.  371,  372 

28.  What  foreign  princes  married  daughters  of  the  Duke  of 

York?  374 

29.  Describe  Monmouth's  Rebellion  and  its  results.  377,  378 

30.  The  character  and  policy  of  James  II.  376-380,  382,  383 

31.  What  led  to  the  Revolution  of  1688?  380-384 

32.  Describe  the  condition  of  England  at  that  time.  385,  388 

33.  What  intellectual  progress  was  made?  386,  387 

34.  What  principles  of  government  were  represented  by  Wil- 

liam and  Mary  ?  390 

35.  How  was  their  power  established  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  ?  391-393 

36.  What  part  was  taken  by  William  in  the  Spanish  Question  ?  396-398 

37.  By  what  right  did  the  House  of  Brunswick  come  to  the 

British  throne?  399 

38.  Describe  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  400-404 


Eng.— 19 


PART  V.- HOUSE  OF  BRUNS- 
WICK. 


I.  GEORGE  L  AND  II. 


EORGE  LEWIS,  Elector  of  Hanover, 
was  proclaimed  king  (A.  D.  1714- 
1727)  in  London,  Edinburgh,  and 
Dublin,  and  was  acknowledged  by 
Louis  XIV.  and  the  other  Euro- 
pean sovereigns.  The  Chevalier  St. 
George  —  as  the  son  of  James  II. 
called  himself — published  a  proc- 
lamation from  his  residence  at  Plom- 
bieres,  asserting  his  royal  rights; 
and  it  is  strange  to  learn  that  Marl- 
borough, though  now  again  General- 
ih-chief  of  the  British  armies,  secretly 
sent  him  funds  for  an  invasion  of 
England. 

407.  In  December,  17 15,  the  in- 
vasion actually  took  place,  supported 
by  an  insurrection  in  Scotland  under 
the  Earl  of  Mar.    But  the  "Pre- 
tender "  had  none  of  the  qualities 
of  a  successful  leader;  he  bewailed 
his  troubles,  instead  of  bravely  meeting  and  conquering  them ; 
and  after  a  repulse  from  Perth,  he  stole  away  to  the  sea  and 
returned  to  France,  leaving  his  deluded  followers  to  their  fate. 
(218) 


Rising  of  the  Clans. 


A.  D.  1716.]  QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE. 


Lords  Kenmure  and  Derwentwater  were  beheaded  at  Lon- 
don, while  die  Earl  of  Nithisdale  was  rescued  from  die  same 
punishment  only  by  the  wit  and  determination  of  his  wife, 
who  contrived  his  escape  from  prison  the  night  before  the 
execution.  The  Regent  of  France  soon  afterward  made  a 
treaty  of  friendship  with  England,  and  the  exiled  Stuarts, 
with  their  impoverished  court,  took  up  an  abode  at  Rome. 

408.  Louis  XIV.  was  now  dead,  after  a  reign  of  seventy- 
two  years.  His  great-grandson  was  but  five  years  old  at  his 
accession,  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  nephew  of  the  late  King, 
was  intrusted  with  the  regency.  The  renunciation  of  all  claim 
to  the  French  crown  by  Philip  V.  of  Spain  (§  397),  left  only 
the  fragile  life  of  Louis  XV.  between  the  Regent  and  the 
throne.  The  King  of  England  and  the  Regent  had,  there- 
fore, a  common  interest  in  maintaining  that  the  line  of  suc- 
cession could  be  altered  by  treaties  or  legislative  act;  while 
the  King  of  Spain  and  the  Stuarts  upheld  the  principle  of 
hereditary  descent  by  absolute  divine  right,  insisting  that 
Philip  V.  could  not,  even  by  the  most  solemn  oath,  bar  his 
own  claim  to  the  throne  of  France,  while  James  III.  must 
be  rightfully  King  of  England,  in  spite  of  Exclusion  Bills, 
Acts  of  Settlement,  and  the  almost  unanimous  consent  of  the 
people.  France  and  England  accordingly  joined  with  the 
Empire  arid  the  Dutch  States  in  a  Quadruple  Alliance  to 
maintain  the  peace  of  Europe. 

409.  This  was  threatened  at  once  by  the  mad  ambition  of 
Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  and  by  Philip  of  Spain,  who  had 
seized  Sardinia  and  some  towns  in  Sicily  —  this  island  having 
been  given,  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 
Both  parties  tried  to  use  the  Stuart  prince  as  a  weapon  against 
Great  Britain.  Charles  XII.,  having  a  quarrel  with  George 
I.  as  Elector  of  Hanover,  -concerning  some  provinces  on  the 
Baltic  Sea,  was  ready  to  invade  Scotland  with  12,000  men, 
when  his  sudden  death  put  an  end  to  the  danger.  The 
British  people  saw  with  displeasure  that  they  were  to  be 


220 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1719. 


drawn  into  continental  disputes  in  which  they  had  no  in- 
terest. The  King,  moreover,  spoke  no  English,  but  felt 
and  acted  merely  as  a  German  prince,  and  never  seemed 
contented  except  during  his  yearly  visits  to  Hanover. 

410.  The  bursting  of  the  South  Sea  Bubble,  as  it  was 

called,  was  among  the  marked  events  of  the  first  George's 

reign.    The  South  Sea  Company,  which  had  an  exclusive  right 

to  trade  with  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America, 
A.  D.  1719.  1  ... 

bought  up  the  government  annuities  with  the 
privilege  of  paying  the  holders  in  its  own  stock.  A  rage  for 
speculation  seized  the  English  people,  who  fancied  that  the 
scrip  of  the  Company  was  a  sure  passport  to  enormous  wealth. 
Lords,  ladies,  and  bishops,  not  less  than  a  throng  of  poor 
scholars  and  artisans,  hastened  to  invest  their  savings.  Days 
were  not  long  enough  nor  counting-rooms  large  enough  to 
accommodate  the  eager  crowd ;  but  desks  were  ranged  along 
the  streets,  and  lined  with  a  host  of  clerks  to  receive  sub- 
scriptions. Other  adventurers,  encouraged  by  the  universal 
madness,  founded  new  companies  which  obtained  their  share 
of  the  popular  favor. 

At  length  the  bubble  burst :  the  Company  was  found  una- 
ble to  fulfill  more  than  a  very  small  fraction  of  its  promises 
to  pay;  and  multitudes  who  had  dreamed  themselves  rich, 
awoke  to  beggary.  Robert  Walpole,  who,  almost  alone  in 
the  nation,  had  retained  his  good  sense,  and  had  warned  his 
countrymen  against  the  ruin  that  must  come,  now  became 
First  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  and  continued  at  the  head  of 
affairs  twenty-one  years. 

411.  Just  as  a  new  war  was  threatening  Europe,  George  I. 
died  in  Hanover,  whither  he  had  gone  for  his  annual  visit. 

His  son,  George  II.,  was  now  forty-four  years 
1727  17  o.    ^       — ^  dull,  conceited  little  despot;  but  he 
spoke  English,  and  was,  therefore,  more  popular  than  his 
father.     He   was,    moreover,    controlled  —  though  uncon- 
sciously—  by  his  wife,  the  beautiful  and  sensible  Caroline, 


A.  D.  1740.]  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION. 


221 


who  persuaded  him,  contrary  to  his  first  intentions,  to  recall 
his  father's  old  ministers,  with  Walpole  at  their  head. 

412.  Peace  and  a  defensive  alliance  were  concluded,  in 
1729,  with  Spain  and  France,  who  were  subsequently  joined 
by  Holland.  But  the  old  rivalries  still  raged  between  the 
English  and  Spanish  traders.  Not  only  was  there  a  colonial 
quarrel  concerning  the  boundary  of  Georgia  and  Florida, 
but  the  Spaniards  insisted  upon  searching  English  vessels 
upon  the  seas  for  contraband  goods.  In  one  of  these  visita- 
tions, the  Spanish  captain,  though  he  found  nothing  to  seize, 
wantonly  tore  off  the  ear  of  the  English  ship-master,  Jenkins 
by  name,  and  told  him  to  carry  it  to  King  George,  with  the 
message  that,  had  the  Spaniards  caught  His  Majesty,  they 
would  have  served  him  in  the  same  way.  The  story  of  this 
outrage  raised  a  storm  of  indignation  in  England;  and  Wal- 
pole, against  his  will,  was  forced  into  a  war,  which  was  de- 
clared in  1739.  Porto  Bello,  a  Spanish  trading  post  on  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien,  was  taken  by  the  English ;  but  their 
assault  on  the  still  more  important  post  of  Cartagena  was 
repulsed  with  great  loss. 

413.  This  colonial  contest  was  soon  merged  in  the  general 
War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  (A.  D.  1 740-1 748).  The 
Emperor  Charles  VI.,  having  no  son,  wished  to  secure  all 
his  hereditary  dominions  to  his  daughter,  Maria  Theresa, 
and  had  persuaded  most  of  the  governments  of  Europe  to 
guarantee  his  Pragmatic  Sanction  to  this  end.  Upon  his 
death,  the  Archduchess  was  proclaimed  and  accepted  as 
sovereign  of  Hungary,  Bohemia,  Austria,  etc.  ;  but  the 
Bourbons,  both  in  France  and  Spain,  sustained  the  preten- 
sions of  her  cousin,  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  who  was  elected 
emperor  as  Charles  VII. 

Frederic  the  Great,  King  of  Prussia,  began  hostilities  by 
seizing  the  province  of  Silesia,  part  of  which  had  been  in 
dispute  between  his  ancestors  and  the  Austrian  rulers.  Eng- 
land alone  stood  by  her  agreement  with  the  Emperor,  and 


222 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1743. 


steadily  supported  his  daughter.  Parliament  voted  liberal 
supplies;  and  the  King  himself,  with  his  son,  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  took  an  active  part  in  the  war.  Both  were 
present  in  the  battle  of  Dettingen,  June  27,  1743,  where 
their  hard-won  victory  drove  the  French  out  of  Germany. 

414.  The  King's  partiality  for  his  German  subjects  of- 
fended the  English,  who  saw  their  country  reduced  to  a 
mere  province  of  Hanover.  The  French  took  advantage 
of  their  discontent,  and  of  the  absence  of  George  II.  from 
his  kingdom,  to  plan  an  invasion  of  Great  Britain  by  Charles 
Edward  Stuart,  grandson  of  James  II.  His  father  (§  406) 
had  lost  what  little  spirit  he  ever  possessed,  and  contented 
himself  with  issuing  a  proclamation  from  Rome,  in  which  he 
appointed  his  son  Regent  of  England  during  his  absence ! 

The  first  attempt  was  defeated  by  a  tempest  which  wrecked 
the  French  fleet,  and  destroyed  a  great  part  of  the  army  de- 
signed for  the  invasion.  In  1745,  however,  the  young  ad- 
venturer again  embarked,  and  landed  in  Scotland  with  only 
seven  attendants.  His  weapons  of  war  had  been  lost  in  the 
passage.  The  French  had  grown  cold  in  his  cause,  but  the 
romantic  loyalty  of  the  Scots  led  several  chiefs  and  their  clans 
to  join  him  to  the  number  of  1,500  men.  They  took  the 
town  of  Edinburgh  by  surprise,  proclaimed  "  King  James 
the  Eighth,"  and  held  a  grand  ball  at  Holyrood  Palace  in 
honor  of  his  accession. 

415.  At  Prestonpans  a  victory  was  gained  over  the  Eng- 
lish, with  the  capture  of  a  train  of  artillery,  which  the 
"  Young  Pretender"  greatly  needed.  He  was  soon  master 
of  all  Scotland,  except  the  castles  of  Edinburgh  and  Stirling, 
and  a  few  forts  in  the  Highlands.  The  French,  now  believ- 
ing in  his  success,  sent  him  arms  and  money,  and  he  was 
ready  for  the  invasion  of  England.  He  advanced  as  far  as 
Derby,  and  nothing  apparently  prevented  his  march  on  Lon- 
don. Shops  were  closed ;  business  suspended ;  and  a  great 
panic  of  terror  seized  the  people  of  the  capital,  while  their 


223 


King,  who  had  now  returned,  began  to  embark  his  treasures 
for  a  flight  to  the  Continent. 

But  the  Pretender  was  disappointed  of  any  great  accessions 
in  England,  while  a  royal  fleet  cruising  in  the  Channel  j:>re- 
vented  an  invasion  from  France.  Forces  double  or  treble 
his  own  in  numbers  began  to  gather  around  him,  and  reluc- 
tantly he  fell  back  on  Glasgow.  The  dashing  bravery  of  his 
Highlanders  won  him  a  victory  near  Falkirk ;  but  all  his 
hopes  were  crushed  by  the  sudden  and  complete  rout  of  his 
forces  at  Culloden  Moor,  near  Inverness,  After 

.  .  .  .  April  16,  1746. 

wandering  five  months  in  hardship  and  peril,  the 
Young  Pretender  made  his  escape  over  seas,    The  victorious 
Duke  of  Cumberland  exacted  a  terrible  vengeance  from  the 
Scots,  and  his  brutalities  fixed  upon  him  the  unenviable  name 
of  u  the  Butcher.  " 

416.  Meanwhile,  affairs  on  the  Continent  had  changed  by 
the  death  of  the  Emperor  Charles  VII.,  and  the  election  of 
Maria  Theresa's  husband,  Francis  of  Lorraine,  to  wear  the 
crown  of  Charlemagne,  The  war  went  on  with  vigor,  not 
only  in  Europe  but  on  the  sea  and  in  North  America,  where 
Louisbourg,  on  Cape  Breton  Island,  was  taken  by  a  force 
from  Massachusetts.  But  England  grew  tired  of  a  war  in 
which  the  greatest  expense  and  the  least  profit  fell  to  her 
share,  while  sheer  exhaustion  drove  the  other  powers  to 
make  peace.    By  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle       ^  ^ 

all  conquests  were  restored,  To  provide  for 
British  soldiers  and  sailors,  now  discharged  from  service, 
a  colony  was  formed  in  Nova  Scotia,  with  the  new  town  of 
Halifax  for  its  capital.  Free  passage,  fifty  acres  of  land  to 
each  settler,  and  exemption  from  taxes  for  ten  years,  were 
the  inducements  to  emigrate. 

417.  A  new  wrar  broke  out  in  1755,  known  in  Europe  as 
the  "  Seven  Years'  War,"  but  in  America  as  the  4 'French 
and  Indian  War."  England  was  now  allied  with  Prussia, 
while  Maria  Theresa  had  France,  Spain,  Saxony,  and  Russia 


224 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


[A.  D.  1757. 


upon  her  side.  The  French  made  haste  to  seize  Minorca 
(§  404)  before  the  British  could  reinforce  it.  The  govern- 
ment as  then  constituted  was  indeed  so  weak,  or  so  blind 
to  the  indications  of  danger,  that,  on  the  eve  of  a  universal 
war,  Great  Britain  had  barely  three  regiments  fit  for  the 
field,  while  the  navy  was  almost  equally  inefficient. 

So  great  was  the  popular  indignation  in  England  at  the  loss 
of  the  "key  to  the  Mediterranean,"  that  Admiral  Byng,  the 
unfortunate  commander  of  a  small  and  ill-equipped  relief  fleet, 
was  brought  to  trial  and  shot  —  though  acquitted  of  either 
treachery  or  cowardice  —  for  not  having  defeated  the  French. 
When  passion  had  cooled,  it  was  felt  that  the  brave  Admiral 
had  suffered  for  the  fault  of  the  ministry,  and  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle  was  forced  to  resign.  William  Pitt,  the  "Great 
Commoner,"  now  came  into  power;  and  his  energetic  spirit 
was  soon  felt,  infusing  vigor  into  British  movements  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe. 

418.  The  hero  of  this  war  was  Frederic  the  Great,  who 
had  all  continental  Europe  leagued  against  him ;  but  his 
wonderful  military  genius  could  not  have  gained  the  day 
without  the  firm  friendship  and  generous  subsidies  of  Pitt. 
The  Duke  of  Cumberland  had  been  driven  from  Hanover 
by  the  French,  and,  in  the  Convention  of  Kloster  Seven, 
agreed  to  disband  his  army.  Deserted  thus  by  his  only  ally, 
Frederic  was  almost  driven  to  despair ;  but  his  brilliant  vic- 
tories of  Rossbach  and  Leuthen  retrieved  his  fortunes ;  while 
Mr.  Pitt,  then  just  come  to  the  head  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, refused  to  confirm  the  "Convention,"  and  sent  a  fresh 
army  into  Germany. 

419.  In  America,  the  French,  who  had  settlements  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi,  desired  to  unite  these  dis- 
tant posts  by  a  chain  of  forts  in  the  rear  of  the  English  col- 
onies, while  they  stirred  up  the  native  savages,  who  were 
usually  their  allies,  to  fall  upon  the  defenseless  villages  of 
New  England.     Pitt's  strong  hand  was  felt  in  American 


A.  D.  1760.] 


BRITISH  INDIA. 


225 


forests  no  less  than  on  German  battle-fields.  Fort  Duquesne, 
at  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  which  form  the  Ohio, 
was  taken  by  a  colonial  force,  and  received  the 
name  of  Pittsburgh,  in  honor  of  the  great  min- 
ister. Forts  Niagara  and  Ticonderoga  were  taken  the  next 
year,  while  the  still  greater  conquest  of  Quebec  was  made 
by  Gen.  Wolfe. 

420.  In  India,  yet  more  brilliant  and  important  victories 
led  to  the  foundation  of  a  great  British  Empire.  (See  Sketch 
Map  of  Hindustan,  p.  258.)  The  East  India  Company  pos- 
sessed, at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  only  the  three  trading 
stations  of  Bombay,  Madras,  and  Calcutta,  each  guarded  by 
a  small  fort.  The  remarkable  genius  of  Robert  Give,  a 
poor  clerk  of  the  Company,  had  been  shown  in  the  capture 
and  defense  of  Arcot  against  the  French  and  their  Hindu 
allies;  and  still  more  signally  in  his  vengeance  upon  the 
Surajah  Dowlah,  Viceroy  of  Bengal. 

This  brutal  wretch,  in  June,  1756,  seized  Calcutta,  and 
thrust  one  hundred  and  fifty  English  captives  into  a  dungeon 
so  small  that  nearly  all  perished  in  agonies  of  thirst  and  suffo- 
cation during  a  single  night.  Clive,  with  only  1,000  English 
and  2,000  native  troops,  recaptured  Calcutta,  and  inflicted  on 
Surajah  Dowlah  and  his  64,000  Asiatics  a  complete  and  ruin- 
ous defeat.  The  successors  of  Dowlah  ceded  to  the  English 
all  the  land  between  Calcutta  and  the  sea,  and  the  petty  trad- 
ing post  grew  into  the  magnificent  capital  of  British  India. 

421.  The  great  Mogul,  or  Mongol,  Empire  in  Hindustan 
was  now  crumbling,  and  its  twenty-one  provinces  were  nearly 
independent.  By  taking  part  in  the  ceaseless  rivalries  and 
contentions  between  these  several  states,  the  British  acquired 
controlling  influence  and  then  absolute  power,  until,  in  the 
course  of  a  century,  the  whole  vast  peninsula  from  the 
Himalayas  to  the  southernmost  point  of  Ceylon,  was  either 
tributary  or  immediately  subject  to  their  sway.  The  French — 
who  had  first  conceived  the  idea  of  building  up  a  European 


226 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1760. 


empire  on  the  ruins  of  the  Mogul,  and  who  had  first  taken 
the  necessary  step  of  training  native  soldiers  to  serve  under 
European  officers  —  were  driven  from  all  their  conquests. 

In  1760,  King  George  II.  suddenly  died;  and  as  his  eldest 
son,  Frederic,  had  preceded  him,  he  was  followed  on  the 
throne  by  his  grandson,  George  the  Third. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Elector  of  Hanover  becomes  King  of  Great  Britain.  James  Stuart 
invades  Scotland  without  success.  Alliance  of  English  King  and 
French  Regent  to  oppose  strict  hereditary  succession.  Great  Britain 
under  George  I.  and  George  II.  a  "province  of  Hanover."  Multi- 
tudes made  poor  by  the  South  Sea  Scheme.  Accession  of  George  II. 
Affair  of  Jenkins's  ear  leads  to  war  with  Spain.  In  War  of  the  Aus- 
trian Succession,  England  takes  part  with  Maria  Theresa ;  gains  battle 
of  Dettingen.  Invasion  of  Great  Britain  by  the  Young  Pretender, 
aided  by  the  French.  His  success  in  Scotland  ;  failure  in  England  ; 
rout  at  Culloden.  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  ends  War  of  Austrian 
Succession. 

In  Seven  Years'  War,  Great  Britain  and  Prussia  are  allied  against 
all  Europe.  Loss  of  Minorca ;  execution  of  Admiral  Byng.  Pitt 
becomes  Prime  Minister.  Brilliant  victories  of  Frederic  the  Great. 
Capture  of  principal  French  forts  in  North  America.  Foundation  of 
British  Empire  in  India.    Accession  of  George  III. 


II.   REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III. 


A  Hessian  and  Officer. 


HREE  kings,  Henry,  Edward, 
and  George,  each  the  third 
of  his  name,  have  had  the 
longest  reigns  in  English  his- 
tory ;  and  of  these  reigns,  the 
longest  and  most  eventful  is 
the  one  upon  which  we  are 
\  now  to  enter  (A.  D.  1760- 
1820).  Unlike  his  two  pred- 
ecessors, George  III.  was  born 
and  educated  in  England ;  and 
in  his  opening  address  to  Par- 
liament he  declared  that  he 
4 'gloried  in  the  name  of 
Briton."  The  bitter  feeling 
between  Hanoverians  and  Jac- 
obites had  now  died  out,  and 
some  of  the  chief  adherents 
of  the  Stuarts  accepted  places 
in  the  young  King's  house- 
hold. 


423.  The  war  would  soon  have  ended  but  for  a  new 
4 'Family  Compact"  of  the  three  Bourbon  sovereigns  in 
France,  Spain,  and  Naples.  Mr.  Pitt,  who  had  the  earliest 
intelligence  of  this  treaty,  wished  to  strike  the  first  blow 
against  Spain  by  seizing  her  supplies  of  gold  and  silver  on 
their  way  from  her  American  colonies.  But  the  King,  who 
hated  Pitt,  rejected  his  advice,  and  the  Minister  resigned. 
His  place  was  filled  by  the  Earl  of  Bute,  a  favorite  and  obe- 
dient tool  of  the  King.  Pitt's  foresight  was  justified;  for  war 
was  declared  against  Spain,  in  January,  1762;  and  British 

(227) 


228 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1762. 


squadrons,  sailing  to  opposite  sides  of  the  globe,  captured 
Havana  in  Cuba  with  all  the  Caribbee  Islands,  and  the 
Philippines,  as  well  as  many  richly  laden  vessels. 

British  arms  being  every-where  triumphant,  propositions 
were  again  made  for  a  peace  ;  and  the  Seven  Years'  War 
was  closed  by  a  treaty  signed  at  Paris,  Feb.  10,  1763. 
France  ceded  to  Great  Britain  all  her  settlements  on  the 
River  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  gave  back  Minorca  in 
exchange  for  Belleisle,  a  little  island  on  her  own  coast  which 
had  been  captured  by  the  English.  England  restored  Havana 
and  the  Philippine  Islands  to  Spain,  in  exchange  for  Florida. 

424.  The  peace,  though  confirmed  by  Parliament,  was 
odious  to  the  British  people ;  and  the  startling  fact  now  came 
to  light  that  the  House  of  Commons  had  ceased  to  represent 
the  nation.  Boroughs  were  constantly  bought  and  sold  by 
great  landholders;  so  that  at  one  time  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle appointed  one-third  of  all  the  country  members  of 
the  House.  Since  the  last  apportionment  of  representatives, 
some  boroughs,  like  Old  Sarum,  had  lost  their  last  inhab- 
itant—  the  seat  in  Parliament  continuing  to  be  filled,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  by  some  neighboring  squire ;  while  great 
towns,  like  Manchester  and  Birmingham,  had  risen  with  the 
growth  of  trade  and  manufactures,  but  had  no  representatives 
at  all.  In  8,000,000  of  English  people,  only  160,000  had 
the  right  to  vote. 

425.  The  public  opinion,  thus  shut  out  of  Parliament, 
found  its  true  representation  in  the  press,  and  newspapers 
now  began  to  constitute  a  "Fourth  Estate"  which  is  some- 
times more  powerful  than  all  the  rest.    John  Wilkes,  in  his 

journal,  the  North  Briton,  denounced  the  peace 
A.  D.  1763.       J  9  .  .         '  1 

and  attacked  the  minister;  and  Lord  Bute,  though 

supported  by  King,  Lords,  and  Commons,  had  to  yield  to 

the  storm  of  popular  fury  and  resign  his  place.    Wilkes  was 

a  bad  man,  but  the  unjust  prosecution  and  imprisonment  to 

which  he  was  subjected  by  the  Court,  made  him  the  repre- 


A.  D.  1764.]        THE  AMERICAN  COLONIES. 


229 


sentative,  though  unworthy,  of  three  great  principles  of 
English  freedom.  Since  his  time,  no  man  has  been  arrested 
on  a  "  general  warrant";  the  need  of  parliamentary  reform 
has  been  admitted,  and  the  suffrage  extended ;  while  news- 
papers have  enjoyed  the  fullest  liberty  to  criticise  the  acts  of 
the  government. 

426.  Under  the  ministry  of  Grenville,  who  succeeded  Bute, 
events  occurred  of  immense  importance  both  to  England  and 
America.  The  English  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  coast  had 
now  grown  into  thirteen  states,  containing  about  two  millions 
of  white  people  and  half  a  million  of  negroes,  mostly  slaves. 
All  except  Connecticut  had  governors  appointed  by  the  King ; 
but  each  had  also  a  ' '  House  of  Assembly  "  elected  by  the 
people.  The  mother-country  had  first  despised  and  neglected 
these  obscure  states  in  the  wilderness,  then  had  grown  proud 
of  their  prosperity,  and  then  jealous  of  their  power.  They 
were  permitted  no  trade  except  with  English  ports ;  and  their 
manufactures  were  forbidden  to  grow  beyond  a  certain  meas- 
ure, lest  they  should  compete  with  those  of  the  parent-land. 

427.  The  war  which  so  greatly  increased  the  foreign  pos- 
sessions of  England,  had  borne  heavily  upon  her  colonies  in 
America.  The  savage  natives,  always  treacherous  and  cruel, 
had  been  stirred  up  to  fierce  hostility  by  the  French,  and 
had  fallen  oil  many  exposed  settlements,  burning,  plundering, 
or  murdering  whatever  came  within  their  reach.  The  colo- 
nists felt,  therefore,  that  they  had  sustained  their  full  share 
of  the  expenses  and  exposures  of  the  war.  Grenville  deter- 
mined, however,  to  extend  to  the  American  provinces  a  stamp 
tax,  which  had  already  been  imposed  upon  thd  three  king- 
doms. The  Americans  replied  that  no  burdeil  could  be  laid 
upon  them  by  a  Parliament  in  which  they  were  not  repre- 
sented; but  that  if  the  King  would  intimate  what  sum  they 
were  expected  to  contribute  to  his  service,  the  House  of 
Assembly  in  each  colony  would  deliberate  upon  the  matter, 
precisely  as  was  done  by  the  Commons  at  home. 


23° 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1765. 


428.  The  passage  of  the  "Stamp  Act"  caused  a  deep  and 
painful  excitement  in  the  colonies.  Virginia  took  the  lead  in 
remonstrance ;  and  a  Congress  of  representatives  from  all  the 

colonies  met  at  New  York  to  protest  against  "  tax- 

Oct.,  1765.  .  1         .  & 

ation  without  representation."  Yielding  partly  to 
the  popular  feeling,  a  new  ministry  in  1766  repealed  the  Stamp 
Act,  but,  at  the  same  time,  reasserted  the  supremacy  of  Par- 
liament "in  all  cases  whatsoever."  To  enforce  this  principle, 
a  slight  tax  was  imposed  in  America,  the  following  year,  on 
tea,  glass,  paper,  and  painters'  colors. 

Pitt  —  soon  created  Earl  of  Chatham  and  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  ministry  —  was  a  firm  friend  of  the  colonies  and 
opponent  of  taxation ;  but  illness  withdrew  him  from  public 
life,  and  after  some  other  changes,  Lord  North  became 
prime  minister.  All  the  duties  were  repealed,  except  a  petty 
tax  of  three  pence  per  pound  on  tea;  but  this  contained  the 
whole  principle  for  which  the  colonists  were  contending. 
American  ladies  leagued  themselves  to  abstain  from  the  use 
of  the  article,  and  a  number  of  Bostonians  even  went  on 
board  the  tea-ships  by  night  and  threw  the  whole  cargo 
into  the  water,  destroying  property  worth,  perhaps,  $90,000. 
Similar  cargoes  arriving  at  Charleston,  Philadelphia,  and 
New  York,  were  either  detained  in  store-houses  or  sent 
back  to  England. 

429.  Boston  was  punished  by  an  embargo,  and  all  her 
port  privileges  were  transferred  to  Salem,  while  the  charter 
of  Massachusetts  was  annulled.  The  best  men  in  the  colo- 
nies were  now  alarmed.  A  general  Congress  at  Philadelphia 
claimed  for  the  colonists  all  the  liberties  of  Englishmen,  and 
suspended  commerce  with  the  mother-country  until  redress 
of  grievances  was  guaranteed.  Addresses  were  voted  to  their 
fellow-colonists  of  Canada,  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
and  to  the  King;  and  another  Congress  was  called  to  meet 
in  May,  1775. 

430.  A  British  force  of  10,000  men  was  soon  concentrated 


A.  D.  1776.]         WAR  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


231 


at  Boston,  and  the  first  battle,  or  skirmish,  in  the  War  of 
American  Independence  was  fought  at  Lexington,  Massa- 
chusetts, April  19,  1775.  A  party  of  the  British,  who  had 
destroyed  some  stores  at  Concord,  were  pursued  and  routed 
by  the  colonial  militia  with  great  loss.  Gen.  Gage  was  block- 
aded in  Boston  by  20,000  colonial  troops.  The  forts  of 
Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  were  seized,  and  the  key  to 
Canada  was  thus  secured.  The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  re- 
sulted in  the  dislodgment  of  the  Americans  from  that  strong 
position ;  but  their  brave  resistance,  and  the  severe  loss  they 
inflicted  on  the  British,  made  it  a  moral  victory. 

The  Congress  now  in  session  at  Philadelphia  appointed 
Gen.  George  Washington  to  command  the  colonial  forces, 
and  took  measures  for  raising  both  men  and  money  for  the 
war.  Their  petition  to  the  King,  desiring  peace  and  recon- 
ciliation, was  contemptuously  rejected,  and  he  expressed 
publicly  to  Parliament  his  determination  to  put  down  the 
rebellion  by  force. 

431.  Detachments  of  the  British  fleet  burned  Norfolk  in 
Virginia  and  Portland  in  Maine.  An  invasion  of  Canada 
during  the  winter  of  1775,  '76,  proved  the  spirit  and  endur- 
ance of  the  colonists,  but  failed  to  draw  the  Canadians  into 
the  War  of  Independence.  It  might  have  been  thought  that 
the  French  colonists  on  the  north  and  the  Spaniards  on  the 
south  (*§  423),  who  had  been  only  eight  years  subject  to 
Great  Britain,  would  have  been  among  the  first  to  throw  off 
her  yoke ;  but  they  were  less  thoroughly  educated  in  the 
principles  of  civil  freedom  than  were  the  descendants  of 
those  who  won  Magna  Charta  and  the  Bill  of  Rights,  or 
who  conducted  the  great  revolutions  of  the  seventeenth 
century  in  England. 

432.  The  colonial  leaders,  who  had  begun  as  loyal  sub- 
jects, with  only  a  request  for  just  government,  j  ^ 
were  compelled  by  the  King's  violence  to  become 

the  founders  of  an  independent  republic.    Their  Declaration 


232  HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1776. 

detailed  the  wrongs  inflicted  on  the  colonists;  and  having 
reaffirmed  the  principle  (§  339)  that  "governments  derive 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed/'  as- 
serted that  "these  colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be, 
independent  states."  The  paper  was  signed  by  all  the 
members  of  Congress,  and  approved  by  the  several  state 
governments. 

433.  A  few  days  later,  Lord  Howe  arrived  in  New  York 
Bay  with  fresh  forces, — many  of  them  German  mercenaries, — 
but  also  with  full  powers  to  treat  for  peace.  To  this  end  he 
addressed  a  letter  to  "  G.  Washington,  Esq."  The  General 
returned  it  unopened,  with  the  remark  that,  as  a  private 
person,  he  held  no  communication  with  the  enemies  of  his 
country.  A  committee  appointed  by  Congress  to  treat  with 
Howe  declared  that  peace  was  now  impossible,  except  upon 
the  basis  of  American  independence. 

434.  The  defeat  of  the  American  army  on  Long  Island 
threw  New  York  open  to  the  British,  and  they  held  that  im- 
portant city  until  the  end  of  the  war.  The  Americans  were 
driven  west  of  the  Delaware,  while  the  British  and  Hessian 
troops  dispersed  themselves  in  winter  quarters  in  the  Jerseys ; 
but  Washington,  by  a  sudden  and  brilliant  movement,  sur- 
prised them  at  Princeton  and  drove  them  almost  wholly  from 
the  state.  The  aim  of  the  British  was  to  gain  the  Hudson 
River,  and  separate  the  Eastern  from  the  Middle  and  South- 
ern States.  This  was  nearly  accomplished  by  the  treason  of 
Benedict  Arnold,  who  agreed  to  deliver  up  West  Point.  The 
messenger  of  Lord  Howe  was  fortunately  captured  before 
the  surrender  could  take  place. 

435.  Gen.  Burgoyne  was  charged  with  a  more  difficult 

and  honorable  part  in  the4  undertaking.    He  advanced  from 

Canada;  but  he  was  surrounded  by  superior  numbers  near 

Saratoga,  and  was  forced  to  surrender  his  entire 
Oct.  16,  1777.  0  '  .  .  ... 

command.    This  was  the  turning  point  m  the 

American  Revolution.    The  French  government  soon  after- 


A.  D.  1781.]     SURRENDER  OF  CORNWALLIS. 


233 


ward  acknowledged  the  independence  of  die  United  States, 
and  entered  with  them  into  a  treaty  of  commerce  and  alliance. 
Spain  and  Holland  followed  the  example  of  France;  while 
the  northern  nations  proclaimed  an  ' 4  Armed  Neutrality, " 
which  enabled  them  to  supply  the  colonists  with  warlike 
stores.  Spain  besieged  Gibraltar;  the  French  fleets  captured 
some  of  the  British  West  India  Islands;  and  the  Spaniards 
made  prizes  of  English  vessels  laden  with  treasure  from  both 
sides  of  the  globe. 

436.  The  war,  which  had  at  first  been  popular  in  England, 
was  now  becoming  odious.  The  King's  arbitrary  temper 
alarmed  his  subjects  at  home,  who  began  to  feel  that  the 
colonists  had  only  maintained  the  common  rights  of  English- 
men against  the  tyranny  of  the  crown.  Lord  North  was  now 
ready,  though  too  late,  to  yield  all  the  original  demands. 
He  disavowed  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax  the  colonies. 
A  bill  was  introduced  into  Parliament  recommending  peace 
at  any  price,  even  to  the  acknowledgment  of  American 
independence.  Ford  Chatham,  though  prostrated  by  illness, 
made  one  last  effort  to  oppose  this  measure,  which  he  re- 
garded as  a  dismemberment  of  the  British  Empire  at  the 
bidding  of  France.  He  spoke  with  his  old  eloquence;  but 
his  dying  powers  were  too  severely  taxed,  and  he  fell  into 
convulsions  from  which  he  never  recovered. 

437.  The  last  decisive  action  of  the  war  in  America  was 
the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  with  his  whole 

.     .    .  Oct.,  1781. 

army,  at  Yorktown  111  Virginia,  though  peace  was 
not  concluded  until  more  than  a  year  later.  The  British 
navy,  meanwhile,  gained  victories  over  Dutch  and  French 
fleets  in  several  quarters  of  the  globe ;  but  Minorca  was  lost, 
and  an  attempt  upon  the  Dutch  settlements  in  South  Africa 
failed.  The  most  brilliant  victory  was  that  of  Admiral  Rod- 
ney over  the  French  fleet  of  the  Count  de  Grasse,  which  was 
threatening  Jamaica.  Gibraltar  withstood  a  three  years'  siege 
by  French  and  Spanish  forces,  until  the  hungry  garrison  were 

Eng. — 20. 


234 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1782. 


compelled  to  feed  on  roots  and  mosses,  when  it  was  relieved 
by  Lord  Howe. 

438.  Lord  North's  administration  of  twelve  years  was  now 
ended,  and  a  Whig  ministry  accepted  power  only  on  condition 
of  peace  with  America.  In  November,  1782,  a  treaty  was 
signed  at  Versailles  by  which  Great  Britain  acknowledged  the 
independence  of  her  late  colonies  between  the  St.  Croix  and 

^  g  the  St.  John.  In  the  January  following,  peace 
was  concluded  with  France  and  Spain,  and,  a  few 
months  later,  with  Holland.  All  conquests  were  restored, 
except  that  France  kept  Tobago  and  the  forts  on  the  Senegal 
in  Africa,  while  Spain  gained  Florida  and  Minorca. 

The  war  with  her  colonies  added  ^100,000,000  to  the 
debt  of  Great  Britain.  The  separation  was  a  mutual  benefit. 
Commerce  with  the  free  United  States  has  added  far  more  to 
British  wealth  than  all  possible  taxation  of  the  colonies  could 
have  done ;  and  community  of  language,  literature,  religion, 
and  domestic  habits  is  a  better  bond  of  friendship  than  forced 
allegiance. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Reunion  of  Whigs  and  Tories  under  George  III.  Bute  succeeds 
Pitt  as  prime  minister.  End  of  Seven  Years'  War.  England  gains 
all  British  America  from  France,  and  Florida  from  Spain.  House  of 
Commons  failing  to  represent  public  opinion  in  England,  newspapers 
become  powerful.  Prosecution  of  Wilkes  for  attacks  upon  the  govern- 
ment.   Defeat  of  the  ministry. 

Growth  of  American  colonies ;  restriction  of  their  trade  and  manu- 
factures ;  their  sufferings  from  French  and  Indian  War.  Resistance 
to  "  taxation  without  representation."  Boston  punished  for  her  "  tea- 
party  "  ;  is  occupied  by  a  British  army.  Remonstrances  of  Congress. 
Blockade  of  British  in  Boston.  Battles  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill. 
Declaration  of  American  Independence.  New  York  occupied  by  Brit- 
ish, who  fail  to  seize  the  Hudson  through  Andre's  capture  and  Bur- 
goyne's  defeat.  France,  Spain,  and  Holland  become  allies  of  the 
United  States.    Surrender  of  Cornwallis  and  end  of  the  war. 


III.  WARS  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 


3N  after  the  American  war,  William 
Pitt,  second  son  of  Lord  Chatham, 
came  to  the  head  of  the  ministry. 
The  impeachment  of  Warren  Hast- 
ings for  misrule  and  extortion  in 
India,  recalls  our  attention  to  that 
rich  and  populous  country.  The 
English  rulers  were  doubtless  far 
less  cruel  and  extortionate  than  the 
native  princes ;  but  the  Company's 
servants  amassed  enormous  for- 
tunes; and  even  Clive,  notwith- 
standing his  great  services,  was 
subjected  at  home  to  an  inquiry 
which  drove  him  to  despair  and 
suicide.  Warren  Hastings  was  the 
first  Governor-general  of  India,  —  the  two  presidencies  of 
Madras  and  Bombay  being  now  made  subject  to  that  of 
Bengal,  of  which  Calcutta  was  the  capital  (§  420). 

440.  His  prudent  and  energetic  conduct  during  the  war 
with  France  had  increased  the  power  and  wealth  of  the 
Company;  but  his  treatment  of  the  natives  —  for  example, 
his  loan  of  British  regiments  to  one  of  the  worst  of  Hindu 
tyrants,  for  the  conquest  of  the  free  Rohillas,  and  his  rob- 
bery of  the  princesses  of  Oude  —  was  often  cruel  and  unjust. 
He,  too,  was  brought  to  trial  before  the  bar  of 

&  Feb.,  1786. 

the  House  of  Lords,  and  impeached  by  the  great 
orator,  Edmund  Burke,  of  ' 'high  crimes  and  misdemeanors." 
The  trial  lasted  seven  years.    Hastings  was  at  last  acquitted. 
It  was  proved  that  the  directors  at  home  were  chiefly  respon- 
sible for  his  extortions,  through  their  ceaseless  demand  for 

(235) 


George  III.  in  his  Old  Age. 


236 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


[A.  D.  1789. 


large  remittances,  even  when  the  treasury  was  drained  by 
costly  wars.  By  the  motion  of  Mr.  Pitt,  a  Board  of  Control 
was  appointed  for  Indian  affairs,  which  greatly  limited  the 
power  of  the  Company. 

441.  The  great  Revolution  which  broke  out  in  France  in 
1789,  became  the  occasion  of  wars  in  which  all  Europe  was 
involved.  The  British  people,  proud  of  their  own  freedom, 
rejoiced  at  first  in  the  prospect  of  their  neighbors'  emancipa- 
tion; and  the  most  hopeful  spirits  prophesied  a  universal 
reign  of  peace  and  brotherly  love  to  spring  from  the  over- 
throw of  oppression.  The  French  people  regarded  the  trial 
and  execution  of  Charles  I.  (§  342)  as  models  for  their  own 
proceedings  against  Louis  XVI.  But  the  resemblance  was 
only  external.  The  English  revolutions  of  1648  and  1688 
were  conducted  with  strict  respect  to  law  and  public  order; 
the  French  revolution  was  disgraced  by  horrid  scenes  of 
bloodshed  and  sacrilege. 

The  French  declared  themselves  brothers  and  allies  of  all 
who  desired  the  overthrow  of  monarchy;  and  the  European 
sovereigns  soon  combined  their  forces  to  suppress  so  danger- 
ous an  example  to  their  own  subjects.  Great  Britain,  as 
usual,  furnished  men  and  money  to  the  continental  cam- 
paigns, while  her  fleets  attacked  the  French  possessions  in 
the  East  and  West  Indies. 

442.  In  1794,  the  French  armies  overran  the  Austrian 
Netherlands,  which  then  constituted  themselves  the  Belgian 
Republic.  Holland,  too,  was  conquered,  and  its  stadtholder, 
with  many  nobles,  took  refuge  in  England.  Before  many 
years,  the  French  Directory  had  raised  up  a  group  of  sister 
republics, — the  Batavian,  Belgian,  Ligurian,  Venetian,  and 
Parthenopeian, — and  desired  also  to  place  a  "  Hibernian 
Republic"  in  the  rear  of  England.  A  formidable  body  of 
armed  insurgents,  known  as  the  "United  Irishmen,"  awaited 
the  arrival  of  a  French  army  to  cast  off  the  British  yoke  and 
proclaim  the  Republic.    But  the  combined  French  and  Bata- 


A.  D.  iCoi.]  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE. 


237 


vian  fleets  were  defeated  off  Camperdown, — the  French  and 
Spanish,  off  Cape  St.  Vincent;  so  that,  foreign  help  failing, 
the  Irish  insurrection  was  easily  put  down. 

The  massacres  on  both  sides  which  attended  this  unhappy 
rebellion,  rekindled  religious  enmities  which  have  not  even 
yet  subsided.  The  leaders  were  hanged;  a  wretched  crowd 
of  the  populace  were  shot  down  at  Vinegar  Hill,  near  Ennis- 
corthy.  A  French  force  arrived  too  late,  and  surrendered 
with  all  its  arms.  A  fleet  laden  with  ammunition  and  fresh 
troops  was  captured  shortly  afterward. 

443.  To  prevent  future  French  intrigues  and  domestic  re- 
bellions, it  was  now  resolved  to  unite  Ireland  more  closely 
with  England,  as  Scotland  had  been  united  nearly  a  century 
before  (§  4^2).  Thirty-two  Irish  lords  and  one  hundred 
commoners  were  added  to  the  British  Parlia- 

Jan.,  1801. 

ment.    George  III.  at  the  same  time  abandoned 

his  empty  title  of  ''King  of  France,"  and  dropped  the  lilies 

from  his  shield. 

444.  It  is  impossible  here  to  relate  the  marvelous  career 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who,  from  a  penniless  student  at 
Brienne,  raised  himself  to  be  not  only  the  ablest  general,  but 
the  almost  absolute  autocrat,  of  Europe.  Great  Britain  was 
the  only  power  that  constantly  resisted  him.  From  Naples 
to  the  frontiers  of  Denmark,  the  Mediterranean  and  Atlantic 
coasts  were  all  subject  to  his  power  in  1808.  Antwerp  and 
Flushing  were  his  great  naval  depots;  Rome  was  the  second 
city  of  his  empire,  which  rivaled  the  glories  of  Augustus  and 
Charlemagne. 

445.  Napoleon's  first  great  victories  were  over  Italy  and 
Austria ;  his  second  enterprise  was  the  conquest  of  Egypt,  as 
a  means  of  attacking  the  British  Empire  in  the  East.  But  his 
fleet  was  destroyed  by  Admiral  Nelson  in  the  battle  of  the 
Nile;  and  his  invasion  of  Syria  was  defeated  by  the  gallant 
resistance  of  Sir  Sidney  Smith  and  a  small  English  and 
Turkish  force  in  Acre.    Returning  almost  alone  to  France, 


238 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1802. 


Bonaparte  dissolved  the  Directory  as  summarily  as  Cromwell 
had  dismissed  the  Long  Parliament  (§  353),  and  was  ap- 
pointed First  Consul,  with  two  colleagues.  The  French 
army  was  dislodged  from  Egypt  by  a  British  force  under 
Gen.  Abercrombie;  and  the  invaluable  collection  of  mss. 
and  antiquities,  made  with  great  zeal  and  labor  by  the 
French  savans,  were  appropriated  to  the  British  Museum. 
The  previous  autumn,  the  small  but  important  island  of 
Malta  was  surrendered  to  the  English  fleet,  which  thus 
gained  complete  control  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

446.  A  short  peace  followed  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  between 
France  and  England ;  still  both  parties  distrusted  each  other, 
and  continued  their  preparations.  War  was  suddenly  re- 
newed in  1802.  Two  hundred  French  or  Dutch  vessels 
were  seized  in  British  ports;  and,  by  way  of  retaliation, 
10,000  British  travelers  or  commercial  residents  were  de- 
tained in  France.  A  French  army  seized  Hanover;  but  the 
Dutch  and  French  colonies  in  the  West  Indies  fell  into 
English  hands. 

Grand  preparations  were  made  by  Napoleon  for  an  inva- 
sion of  England.  An  army  of  100,000  men  was  encamped 
at  Boulogne,  and  an  immense  fleet  of  war  and  transport 
vessels  was  ready  to  convey  them  across  the  narrow  sea. 
"Let  us  be  masters  of  the  Channel  for  six  hours,"  said  the 
First  Consul,  "and  we  are  masters  of  the  world."  His 
deeply  laid  scheme  was  foiled,  however,  by  the  energy  and 
skill  of  Mr.  Pitt,  who  again  became  prime  minister  in  1804. 
He  succeeded  in  leaguing  Russia,  Austria,  and  Sweden  with 
Great  Britain  against  Bonaparte ;  and,  for  the  two  remaining 
years  of  his  life,  his  strong  hand  was  felt  in  every  department 
of  the  service. 

447.  In  1804,  Napoleon  became  "Emperor  of  the  French"; 
and,  the  next  year,  won  some  of  his  most  surprising  victories 
over  the  Austrians  and  Russians  at  Ulm  and  Austerlitz.  Aus- 
tria had  to  make  peace,  with  the  surrender  of  her  most  ancient 


A.  D.  1807.]  WAR  WITH  NAPOLEON. 


239 


possessions  and  her  last  foot-hold  in  Italy,  while  by  losing  her 
only  port,  Trieste,  she  became  an  inland  and  second-rate 
power. 

England  was  consoled  for  the  defeat  of  her  allies  by  a 
naval  victory  won  by  Nelson  off  Trafalgar, —  the 

.  ..  Oct.  21,  1805. 

last  act  of  the  great  Admiral's  life.  He  had  re- 
tired from  the  service  by  reason  of  ill  health,  when  a  crisis 
with  Spain  led  him  to  volunteer  his  services,  which  were 
gladly  accepted.  His  last  signal  to  the  fleet  was,  ' '  England 
expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty."  As  soon  as  it  was  read 
at  his  mast-head,  a  deafening  shout  all  along  the  line  declared 
every  man's  acceptance  of  the  appeal.  Struck  by  a  ball,  the 
Admiral  drew  his  cloak  about  him  that  he  might  not  be 
recognized,  and  the  battle  went  on  three  hours  while  he  lay 
in  his  death-agony.  Learning,  at  last,  that  a  complete  vic- 
tory had  been  gained,  and  exclaiming,  ' '  Thank  God,  I  have 
done  my  duty ! "  the  hero's  soul  departed. 

448.  England's  greatest  minister  did  not  long  survive  him. 
Mr.  Pitt  died  Jan.,  1806;  and  a  new  ministry  was  formed 
by  a  union  of  all  parties,  Mr.  Fox,  Pitt's  chief  rival,  being 
Foreign  Secretary.  He  had  been  a  friend  to  the  French 
Revolution,  and  an  opponent  of  the  war.  His  efforts  at 
conciliation  were,  nevertheless,  in  vain.  He,  too,  died  in 
September,  1806. 

Napoleon,  meanwhile,  had  defeated  Russia  and  Prussia  in 
his  celebrated  northern  campaign :  all  Germany  lay  prostrate 
at  his  feet,  and  he  established  himself  in  triumph  at  Berlin. 
Thence  he  issued  a  decree  which  was  meant  to  annihilate 
British  commerce,  and  thus  destroy  that  "  power  of  the 
purse "  by  which  England  had  been  able  to  maintain  her 
ascendency  in  Europe.  He  forbade  the  entry  of  British 
goods  into  any  continental  port.  The  English  ministry  had 
provoked  this  act  by  declaring  all  the  ports  from  Dantzic  to 
Trieste  closed  to  all  vessels  but  their  own ;  and  their  retalia- 
tory orders  in  Council  now  renewed  this  "  paper  blockade." 


240 


[A.  D.  1807. 


Napoleon  retorted  by  his  Milan  Decree,  subjecting  to  seizure 
all  vessels  that  should  submit  to  these  orders. 

449.  The  Czar  now  made  peace  and  friendship  with  Napo- 
eon ;  and  by  a  secret  article  in  the  Treaty  of  Tilsit,  placed 
his  own  fleet,  with  those  of  Sweden  and  Denmark,  which  he 
could  well  control,  at  the  service  of  his  ally.  Without  waiting 
for  a  declaration  of  war  by  Denmark,  the  British  ministry 
g  ^    g        ordered  a  bombardment  of  Copenhagen,  which 

lasted  three  days  and  resulted  in  a  surrender  of 
the  city  with  its  enormous  fleet  and  two  or  three  thousand 
pieces  of  artillery.  All  these  movables  were  carried  off  to 
England.  The  island  of  Heligoland  was  retained  as  a  depot 
for  British  goods,  which  were  secretly  introduced  into  the 
Continent.  After  this,  the  Danes  naturally  enough  declared 
a  war  against  England,  which  cost  them  their  West  Indian 
possessions  of  Santa  Croce,  St.  Thomas,  and  St.  Johns. 

450.  The  seizure  of  Spain  and  Portugal  by  Napoleon  drew 
England  into  the  Peninsular  War,  of  which  the  principal  hero 
is  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  afterward  made  Marquis  and  Duke 
of  Wellington.  The  fortunes  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons  were 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  imbecile  Charles  IV.,  his  worthless 
Queen,  and  their  favorite  minister  Godoy,  a  man  more  able, 
but  also,  if  possible,  more  basely  wicked  than  either.  Napo- 
leon had  persuaded  Charles  to  sell  his  kingdom  for  a  palace 
and  a  pension,  and  proceeded  to  bestow  the  splendid  prize 
upon  his  own  brother  Joseph. 

The  high-spirited  Spaniards  did  not  choose  to  be  thus 
"bartered  away  like  a  flock  of  sheep";  they  formed  at 
Seville  a  "Supreme  Junta  of  Spain  and  the  Indies,"  pro- 
claimed Ferdinand  VII. ,  the  eldest  son  of  Charles,  to  be 
their  king,  and  applied  for  aid  to  the  British  officers  at  Gib- 
raltar. The  events  of  the  war  can  not  be  detailed  here. 
Wonderful  genius  was  displayed  on  both  sides;  but  the 
steady  determination  of  the  English  general,  though  little 
helped  and  often  hindered  by  his  Spanish  allies,   was  at 


A.  D.  i8ii.]     LAST  YEARS  OF  GEORGE  III. 


241 


length  triumphant;  and  Ferdinand  VII.,  as  dull  a  despot  as 
most  of  his  predecessors,  was  firmly  established  at  Madrid. 

451.  In  1 810,  the  mind  of  George  III.,  never  strong  or 
clear,  gave  way  under  the  strain  of  public  duties,  and  he  fell 
into  that  sad  condition — blind,  deaf,  and  insane  —  in  which 
he  spent  the  last  ten  years  of  his  long  and  eventful  life. 
His  eldest  son,  as  Prince  Regent,  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  government. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Ministry  of  the  younger  Pitt.  Impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings 
for  extortion  in  India.  Wars  of  the  French  Revolution.  French 
Republic  declares  itself  the  "friend  of  all  peoples,  but  the  enemy  of 
all  governments."  By  its  conquests,  Holland,  Belgium,  and  the  terri- 
tories surrounding  Genoa,  Venice,  and  Naples  become  republics. 
Similar  attempts  in  Ireland  defeated.  Union  of  Ireland  with  Great 
Britain.  Napoleon  becomes  First  Consul,  afterward  Emperor,  of  the 
French,  and  dictator  of  Europe.  Peace  of  Amiens  abruptly  ended  by 
embargo  on  French  vessels  in  Britain,  and  detention  of  British  subjects 
in  France.  Victory  and  death  of  Nelson  at  Trafalgar.  Death  of  Pitt 
and  Fox.  Napoleon's  "Continental  System"  attempts  to  destroy^ 
British  commerce.  Bombardment  and  capture  of  Copenhagen.  In 
Peninsular  War,  British  forces  under  Wellington  are  ultimately  victo- 
rious.   Insanity  of  George  III. ;  regency  of  his  son. 


IV.  THE  REGENCY  (A.  D.  1811—1820). 


)T  content  with  having  all  Europe 
for  her  enemies,  England,  by  insist- 
ing upon  her  right  to  board  their 
vessels  of  war  in  search  of  her  run- 
away sailors,  had  stirred  up  the  hos- 
tility of  the  United  States.  ' '  Once 
a  Briton,  always  a  Briton,"  was  her 
maxim;  and  the  multitudes  of  emi- 
grants who  had  adopted  America 
as  their  home  were  still  claimed  as 
subjects  of  King  George.  The  war 
of  181 2  sprang  immediately  from 
the  commercial  warfare  of  decrees 
and  embargoes  with  the  French 
(§448).  Napoleon,  in  181 1,  made 
exceptions  in  his  Berlin  and  Milan 
decrees  in  favor  of  the  Americans;  but  the  British  Orders  in 
Council  were  enforced  upon  American  ships  until  after  the 
declaration  of  war. 

453.  The  United  States  began  without  a  navy;  but  so 
rapidly  was  this  arm  of  the  service  developed,  that  during 
the  first  year  of  the  war  more  than  fifty  armed  vessels,  and 
five  times  as  many  merchantmen,  with  3,000  prisoners  and 
an  immense  amount  of  plunder,  were  taken  from  the  British. 
The  ocean  swarmed  with  American  privateers;  and  from  the 
vast  forests  of  the  interior,  fleets  were  constructed  which 
gained  the  victories  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Champlain.  Three 
invasions  of  Canada,  however,  were  repulsed  with  heavy 
loss;  and  the  American  Gen.  Hull,  pursued  in  his  retreat, 
even  surrendered  Detroit,  and  the  surrounding  country  as 
far  as  Chicago,  to  the  British  Gen.  Brock. 
(242) 


Napoleon  at  St.  Helena. 


A.  D.  1815.]         BATTLE  OF  WATERLOO. 


243 


454.  A  force  of  4,000  English,  landing  in  the  Potomac, 
captured  Washington  and  burned  the  public  buildings  with 
their  libraries  and  archives.  A  subsequent  attempt  upon 
New  Orleans  failed  through  the  energetic  management  of 
Gen.  Andrew  Jackson.  This  was  the  last  action  of  the  war. 
Already,  though  unknown  to  the  combatants,  for  steamers 
and  ocean  telegraphs  did  not  yet  exist,  articles  of  peace 
had  been  signed  at  Ghent;  and  the  "Last  War  with  Great 
Britain" — may  it  forever  be  the  last!  —  was  ended. 

455.  The  turning  point  in  Napoleon's  career  was  his  in- 
vasion of  Russia  in  181 2.  In  that  terrible  march  and  still 
more  dreadful  retreat,  his  iron  will  was  vanquished  by  more 
than  human  forces.  Although  he  reached  the  heart  of  the 
great  Empire,  the  flames  which  enwrapped  his  head-quarters 
at  Moscow  proved  the  undaunted  spirit  of  the  people.  More 
than  nine-tenths  of  his  grand  army  were  victims  of  frost  or 
fire,  food  for  cannon,  or  swallowed  by  the  icy  rivers.  In 
the  campaigns  of  the  next  three  years,  Napoleon's  genius 
shone  brighter  than  ever,  but  the  spell  of  his  ascendancy 
was  broken.  The  tide  of  war  rolled  inward  upon  Paris; 
he  was  conquered,  and  compelled  to  accept  the  little  island 
of  Elba  in  exchange  for  a  great  empire. 

456.  He  returned  in  a  few  months  almost  alone  to  France, 
but  on  his  march  from  the  Mediterranean  to  Paris  was  joined 
by  thousands  of  his  old  soldiers,  and  reigned  for  a  Hundred 
Days  with  his  usual  energy.  But  Wellington,  now  the  con- 
queror of  Spain,  met  him  at  Waterloo;  and  on 

Belgian  battle-fields  the  fates  of  Napoleon  and  ' 
of  Europe  were  decided.  British  and  Prussian  steadiness 
carried  the  day  against  the  magnificent  rush  and  valor  of 
the  French.  Napoleon  was  a  fugitive.  He  threw  himself 
upon  the  generosity  of  the  English  Prince  Regent,  which 
proved  a  broken  reed;  and  the  victor  of  a  hundred  battles 
was  doomed  to  die,  like  a  lion  in  a  cage,  upon  the  barren 
rock  of  St.  Helena. 


244 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1814. 


457.  Louis  XVIII,  brother  of  the  guillotined  king  (§441), 
received  the  French  crown.  A  congress  of  the  Great  Powers 
at  Paris  resettled  the  boundaries  of  Europe,  and  a  "Holy 
Alliance"  bound  the  sovereigns  of  Russia,  Austria,  and 
Prussia  to  aid  each  other  in  putting  down  all  liberal  move- 
ments in  their  respective  countries.  Although  professing  to 
promote  religion  and  paternal  government,  the  Alliance  was 
but  a  scheme  of  absolutism,  and  the  Prince  Regent,  by  the 
advice  of  his  best  councilors,  refused  to  join  it. 

458.  By  the  twenty  years'  war,  thus  victoriously  ended, 
Great  Britain  had  incurred  a  debt  of  four  thousand  millions 
of  dollars.  The  burden  of  the  yearly  interest  bore  heavily 
upon  every  rank  in  society,  but  chiefly  upon  the  industrious 
working  classes,  and  the  merchants  whose  business  was  sud- 
denly curtailed  by  the  close  of  the  war.  The  enormous  in- 
crease of  manufactures  had  more  than  supplied  the  demand; 
many  thousands  of  laborers  were  thrown  out  of  employment. 
The  application  of  steam  to  manufactures,  though  ultimately, 
no  doubt,  a  benefit  to  the  workingmen,  had  crushed  a  multi- 
tude of  small  industries,  and  made  paupers  of  a  most  worthy 
class  of  people. 

The  Corn  Laws,  moreover,  prohibiting  the  importation 
of  foreign  grains,  raised  the  price  of  food,  and  dangerous 
riots  occurred  near  Manchester  and  other  large  towns. 
Lord  Castlereagh's  ministry  both  despised  and  feared  the 
common  people,  and  their  stern  and  cruel  measures  of  re- 
pression embittered  the  discontents.  Assemblies  of  the  peo- 
ple, unless  especially  authorized  by  the  government,  were 
declared  to  be  high  treason,  and  private  citizens  were  for- 
bidden to  possess  fire-arms  or  to  be  drilled  in  their  use. 

459.  The  Prince  Regent  had  forfeited  the  respect  of  the 
nation  by  his  dissolute  life,  and  by  his  cruelty  to  his  consort, 
the  unhappy  Caroline  of  Brunswick,  whom  he  at  length 
banished  from  his  home.  Their  only  child,  the  Princess 
Charlotte,  was  the  idol  of  the  nation;  but  she  died  soon 


A.  D.  1820.]  DEATH  OF  GEORGE  IIL 


245 


after  her  marriage  with  Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg,  and 
the  inheritance  of  the  British  crown  passed  to  the  younger 
sons  of  George  III.  The  poor  old  king  died  Jan.  29,  1820, 
still  under  the  cloud  which  for  ten  years  had  darkened  his 
mind  (§451).  His  obstinate  temper,  his  narrowness  and 
bigotry,  had  all  been  forgotten  in  pity  for  his  great  calamity; 
while  his  love  for  pure  and  simple  pleasures,  his  faithfulness 
to  wife  and  children,  were  admired  by  a  home-loving  people, 
all  the  more  for  their  contrast  with  the  heartless  and  selfish 
prodigality  of  his  son,  who  spent  $600,000  a  year  of  his 
starving  people's  money  on  his  own  pleasures,  and  then 
demanded  three  and  a  quarter  millions  more  to  pay  his 
debts. 

RECAPITULATION. 

War  between  England  and  the  United  States  grows  out  of  "Right 
of  Search."  Successes  of  Americans  on  the  sea.  Their  failures  in  Can- 
ada and  surrender  of  Detroit.  City  of  Washington  burnt.  Defeat  of 
British  at  New  Orleans.  Peace  is  signed  at  Ghent.  Napoleon's  dis- 
aster and  exile  at  Elba.  His  return  and  final  defeat  at  Waterloo ; 
is  held  prisoner  by  British  at  St.  Helena.  England  declines  to  join 
the  Holy  Alliance.  Her  people  are  burdened  with  debt.  Severity  of 
Lord  Castlereagh's  government.  Death  of  the  Princess  Charlotte, 
and  of  her  grandfather  the  king. 


V.  GEORGE  IV.— WILLIAM  IV. 


English  Sailors. 


HE  early  years  of  George  IV. 's  reign 
(A.  D.  1820 — 1830)  were  signalized 
by  the  accession  of  two  very  able 
ministers,  Robert  Peel  and  George 
Canning,  to  the  sovereign's  councils. 
Canning's  liberal  policy  was  shown 
in  the  relief  of  Roman  Catholics 
from  many  of  the  disadvantages  un- 
der which  the  laws  had  placed  them. 
All  danger  of  papal  tyranny  over 
England  had  long  passed  away;  and 
generous  people  felt  it  a  disgrace  that  any  of  their  fellow-sub- 
jects should  suffer  for  religious  beliefs.  The  Emancipation 
was  not  accomplished,  however,  until  after  Mr.  Canning's 
death  in  1827.  The  oath  of  the  King's  supremacy  over  the 
Church  was  replaced  by  an  oath  which  Romanists  were  able 
to  take;  and  all  orifices,  excepting  the  sovereignty  or  regency 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  the  Chancellorship,  were  thrown 
open  on  equal  terms.  Daniel  O'Connell,  the  Irish  "Agi- 
tator," now  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

461.  The  principal  foreign  operations  of  Great  Britain 
during  this  reign  were  the  protection  of  Portugal,  a  close 
commercial  ally,  from  the  aggressions  of  Spain;  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  independence  of  all  the  Spanish  colonies  in 
North  and  South  America,  and  aid  rendered  to  the  Greeks 
in  their  war  against  Turkey.  The  combined  squadrons  of 
Russia,  France,  and  England  defeated  the  Turco-Egyptian 
fleet  in  the  Bay  of  Navarino;  and  after  four  centuries  of 
servitude,  Greece  became  an  independent  kingdom,  under 
the  protection  of  the  Great  Powers. 
(246) 


A.  D.  1832.]       PARLIAMENTARY  REFORM. 


247 


462.  George  IV.  died  in  1830,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  William  IV.  was  sixty-five 
years  of  age  at  his  accession.    He  rejoiced  in 

the  character  and  manners  of  a  British  sailor;  A"  '  l83°~  l837' 
walked  about  the  streets  unattended,  with  an  umbrella  under 
his  arm,  and  talked  in  the  uncourtly  language  of  the  fore- 
castle. But  he  was  a  better  man  than  his  brother;  and 
Queen  Adelaide's  influence  restored  order  and  purity  to 
the  palace. 

463.  The  year  of  William's  accession  was  marked  by  sev- 
eral peaceful  revolutions  in  Europe.  Charles  X.  of  France, 
having  violated  the  freedom  of  the  press  and  the  rights  of 
his  people,  had  to  abandon  his  throne  and  become  the  guest 
of  the  British  sovereign  at  Holyrood  Palace,  His  kinsman, 
Louis  Philippe,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  became  "  King  of  the 
French."  Belgium  separated  itself  from  Holland,  and  chose 
Prince  Leopold,  of  Saxe-Coburg,  to  be  its  king  (§  459).  A 
still  more  peaceful  and  constitutional  change  was  going  on 
in  England  under  the  name  of  Parliamentary  reform  (§  424). 
A  new  and  able  ministry,  with  Earl  Grey  at  its  head,  and 
Lords  Brougham,  Derby,  Palmerston,  and  John  Russell 
among  its  members,  entered  upon  office  fully  pledged  to  this 
most  just  and  necessary  measure. 

464.  There  was  a  strong  Tory  opposition,  and  stormy  de- 
bates went  on  for  a  year  and  a  half.  The  excitement  was 
greatest  in  the  manufacturing  towns, — centers  of  wealth  and 
tax-paying  industry,  but  of  only  recent  importance,  and 
therefore  unjustly  excluded  from  any  share  in  the  gov- 
ernment. Two  hundred  thousand  artisans  were  ready  to 
march  from  Birmingham  to  London  and  make  their  power 
felt  by  the  Parliament.  The  King  at  last  signed  the  Bill. 
Fifty-six  "pocket  boroughs"  were  abolished;  and  143  seats, 
thus  vacated,  were  redistributed  among  the  large  towns.  The 
right  to  vote  was  also  extended  to  all  persons  owning  prop- 
erty or  paying  rent  to  a  certain  limited  amount. 


248 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


[A.  D.  1833. 


465.  The  first  reformed  House  of  Commons  had  an  over- 
whelming liberal  majority;  and  timid  people  began  to  fear 
that  the  rising  tide  of  reform  would  sweep  away  the  aristoc- 
racy, the  Church,  and  all  that  they  held  sacred.  But  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  at  the  head  of  the  Tory  —  now  more  properly 
called  the  Conservative  —  party,  did  much  to  convert  the 
higher  classes  from  blind  and  bigoted  opponents  of  all  prog- 
ress, into  steadfast  adherents  of  justice  under  old  forms  and 
new.  Among  the  noblest  acts  of  the  new  Parliament  was 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  all  the  British  possessions.  Clark- 
son  and  Wilberforce,  whose  humane  efforts  in  1807  had  put 
an  end  to  the  African  slave-trade,  lived  just  long  enough  to 
know  the  complete  triumph  of  their  cause.  Though  Great 
Britain  was  still  heavily  burdened  with  taxes,  the  Commons 
voted  ^"20,000,000  to  compensate  West  Indian  owners  for 
the  liberation  of  nearly  800,000  slaves;  and  though  their 
sugar-trade  has  been  greatly  reduced  by  the  change,  the 
nation  at  large  has  never  grudged  the  sacrifice.  The  first 
day  of  August,  1834,  was  the  birth-day  of  freedom  in  all  the 
colonies. 

466.  A  great  improvement  in  the  Poor  Laws  afforded 
some  relief  to  the  frightful  evils  of  pauperism,  while  it  gave 
freedom  to  honest  labor.  The  Law  of  Settlement  had  hith- 
erto kept  the  working  classes  in  a  state  of  serfdom  fixed  to 
the  soil.  Parishes  resisted  the  arrival  of  an  honest  workman, 
as  if  he  had  been  an  armed  invader,  for  fear  he  might  be 
overtaken  by  sickness,  poverty,  or  old  age,  and  so  come 
upon  them  for  support.  This  law  was  modified  so  as  to 
allow  a  poor  man  to  seek  employment  beyond  the  limits  of 
his  native  parish. 

467.  William  IV  died  in  1837,  and  the  crown  of  the  three 
kingdoms  passed  to  the  Princess  Victoria,  daughter  of  the 
Duke  of  Kent  (see  Table,  p.  215),  who  had  just  completed 
her  eighteenth  year.  The  connection  between  Hanover 
and  Great  Britain  was  now  broken,  the  German  kingdom 


A.  D.  1837.]     ERNEST,  KING  OF  HANOVER. 


249 


passing  to  Ernest  Augustus,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  eldest 
surviving  son  of  George  III. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Ministry  of  Peel  and  Canning.  Repeal  of  laws  unfavorable  to 
Romanists.  England  recognizes  independence  of  Spanish- American 
colonies,  and  aids  to  establish  that  of  Greece.  Accession  of  William 
IV.  Revolutions  in  France  and  Belgium.  Parliamentary  reform  in 
England  ;  Tory  reaction.  Emancipation  of  slaves  in  British  colonies. 
New  Poor  Law.  Death  of  William  ;  accession  of  Victoria  in  Great 
Britain,  of  Ernest  in  Hanover. 


VI.  REIGN  OF  VICTORIA. 


Crimean  Allies. 


|HE  young  Queen's  reign  (A. 
D.  1837 —  )  opened  in  a 
troublous  time.  Canada'  was 
in  revolt,  Jamaica  on  the  eve 
of  it;  and  the  people  at  home 
were  discontented  by  reason  of 
scanty  harvests,  and  the  desire 
of  further  reforms.  A  large 
party  of  thinking  men  among 
the  laboring  classes  insisted 
upon  a  thorough  revolution 
in  the  government:  to  admit 
(1)  Universal  Suffrage;  (2) 
Vote  by  Ballot;  (3)  Annual 
Parliaments;  (4)  Equal  Elec- 
toral Districts;  (5)  Payment 
of  members  of  Parliament  and  abolition  of  Property  Qualifi- 
cations. Meetings  of  these  "Chartists,"  numbering  in  one 
instance  as  many  as  200,000  persons,  occurred  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  large  cities.  A  "monster-petition,"  bearing 
a  million  of  names,  was  rolled  into  Parliament  in  a  huge  tub. 
These  disorderly  movements  only  defeated  themselves;  but 
wiser  men  were  already  seeking  remedies  for  the  real  evils 
which  had  occasioned  the  agitation. 

469.  The  "Anti-corn  Law  League,"  of  which  Mr.  Cob- 
den  was  the  leader,  sought  a  repeal  of  all  the  duties  on 
breadstuffs,  and  in  general  to  promote  free-trade.  The  hard 
teaching  of  events  came  to  the  aid  of  the  Corn  Law  agi- 
tators. The  wet,  cold  summer  of  1845  occasioned  scanty 
harvests  all  over  Europe,  and  in  Ireland  the  potato  was 
blighted.  Even  the  Conservatives  could  not  fail  to  see  the 
(250) 


A.  D.  1848.]  REVOLUTIONS  OF  1848. 


need  of  a  change.  In  1846  all  duties  on  articles  of  food 
were  abolished.  During  this  and  the  following  year  thou- 
sands of  wretched  people  died  of  famine  in  Ireland.  O'Con- 
nell  was  dead,  but  Smith  O'Brien,  who,  without  a  tithe  of 
his  talents,  attempted  to  enact  his  part,  excited  some  show 
of  rebellion.  He  was  arrested  by  a  few  policemen,  and 
transported;  his  deluded  followers  were  permitted  to  seek  a 
safe  asylum  in  America,  and  the  excitement  passed  away. 

470.  The  London  Chartists  mustered  to  the  number  of 
20,000  on  Kennington  Common,  to  march  upon  Westminster 
and  demand  the  five  points  (§  468)  of  the  Charter.  But 
150,000  respectable  citizens  enrolled  themselves 

as  a  special-police,  and  the  rabble,  betrayed  by  Ap" '  18481 
their  leader,  who  had  embezzled  their  subscriptions,  melted 
away.  Among  the  amateur  policemen  who  helped  to  main- 
tain order  at  this  crisis,  was  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
then  an  exile,  though  destined  before  the  end  of  the  year 
to  enforce  a  different  sort  of  order  in  France. 

471.  The  Citizen  King,  Louis  Philippe,  had  by  this  time 
worn  out  the  patience  of  his  people  and  of  Europe.  He  in 
turn  (§  463)  took  refuge  in  England,  and  the  exiled  Bona- 
parte became  President  of  the  Second  French  Republic. 
The  commotions  above  mentioned  were  England's  whole 
share  in  the  Revolutions  of  1848.  Scarcely  a  nation  on  the 
Continent  remained  unaltered;  and  though  the  republics 
then  formed  were  short-lived,  their  principles  entered  into 
the  restored  monarchies,  and  produced  a  slow  but  sure 
growth  of  constitutional  freedom. 

472.  In  1 84 1,  Queen  Victoria  had  married  her  cousin 
Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  a  noble  Prince,  whose  wise, 
unselfish  character  contributed  greatly  to  the  success  and 
happiness  of  her  reign.  Avoiding  public  honors  and  power 
for  himself,  his  study  was  to  strengthen  her  hands  by 
the  wisest  counsel;  while  his  influence  as  a  private  gentle- 
man was  liberally  used  to  forward  scientific  and  industrial 


252 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1851. 


enterprises,  promotive  of  the  happiness  and  enlightenment 
of  the  people.  Among  these  was  a  display  of  the  industries 
of  all  the  world  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  erected  for  the  pur- 
pose in  Hyde  Park,  —  the  first  of  a  series  of  in- 
'  1851 '  ternational  expositions  at  London,  New  York, 
Paris,  and  Vienna.  It  was  regarded  as  a  pledge  of  a  new 
reign  of  peace  and  good-will  among  the  nations. 

473.  Less  than  three  years  had  elapsed  when  sounds  of 
peace  were  drowned  in  the  roar  of  cannon.  Louis  Napoleon, 
by  a  sudden  and  secret  stroke  in  the  night  of  December 
1-2,  185 1,  had  made  himself  arbitrary  ruler  of  France.  To 
feed  the  passion  of  his  people  for  military  glory,  he  seized 
upon  the  "Eastern  Question" — an  ever-open  avenue  to  war 
when  the  western  Powers  felt  inclined  to  it.  The  Russian 
Czar  Nicholas  had  invited  Great  Britain  to  share  with  him 
the  spoils  of  the  "sick  man  of  Europe,"  as  the  declining 
Turkish  power  began  to  be  called.  The  dishonest  proposal 
had  been  promptly  rejected.  The  Czar,  nevertheless,  urged 
upon  the  Sultan  a  haughty  demand  of  new  privileges  for  the 
Greek  Christians  in  Constantinople,  and  seized  upon  Mol- 
davia and  Wallachia,  two  rich  Turkish  provinces,  as  guaran- 
tee for  the  execution  of  his  wishes. 

474.  The  French  government,  under  all  its  varying  forms, 
had  held  itself  for  300  years,  if  not  longer,  the  champion 
and  protector  of  Latin  Christians  in  the  East.  It  now 
chose  to  consider  the  Czar's  demands  as  a  declaration 
of  hostility  against  France,  and  sought  the  alliance  of  Eng- 
land in  resisting  them.  The  diplomacy  of  Europe  held  all 
the  Five  Great  Powers  —  England,  France,  Russia,  Austria, 
and  Prussia — responsible,  severally  or  together,  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace,  justice,  and  the  balance  of  power.  Great 
Britain,  as  we  have  seen,  never  stinted  her  expenditure  of 
blood  or  treasure  in  fulfilling  her  share  in  this  mutual  obliga- 
tion; but  under  the  persuasions  of  the  new  French  Emperor, 
she  now  did  even  more  than  strict  duty  demanded. 


A.  D.  1854.]  WAR  IN  THE  CRIMEA. 


253 


475.  Without  waiting  for  the  cooperation  of  Austria  and 
Prussia,  Lord  Aberdeen's  ministry  entered  into  close  alliance 
with  France  and  with  Turkey  to  repel  the  Russian  aggres- 
sions; and  the  English  embassador  at  Constantinople  was 
authorized  to  call  up  the  fleet  from  Malta  at  any  hostile 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  Czar.  The  Turks  surprised  all 
Europe  by  their  display  of  spirit  and  military  genius.  Their 
general,  Omar  Pasha,  promptly  crossing  the  Danube,  gained 
a  brilliant  victory  over  the  Russians  at  Oltenitza; 

and  their  fortress  of  Silistria  was  defended  with  °v''  l853' 
such  spirit  and  efficiency  that  Prince  Paskievitch  had  to  raise 
the  siege  in  less  than  a  month. 

476.  Another  victory  of  the  Turks  at  Giurgevo,  forced  the 
Czar  to  abandon  the  Lower  Danube,  and  even  to  give  up 
the  provinces  (§  473)  which  were  the  original  cause  of  war. 
The  allied  powers  believed,  however,  that  he  would  be 
ready  at  any  time  to  break  the  peace  of  Europe  by  new 
efforts  to  grasp  Constantinople,  unless  they  destroyed  his 
power  for  mischief.  Or  perhaps  the  French  and  the  English 
commanders  desired  to  make  some  use  of  their  splendid 
armaments,  rather  than  allow  the  Turks  to  reap  all  the 
laurels  of  the  war. 

477.  In  any  case,  it  was  resolved  to  invade  the  Tartar 
province  of  Crimea  and  destroy  the  immense  stores  of  war- 
material  that  were  guarded  by  the  forts  of  Sevastopol.  Not 
in  two  hundred  years  had  French  and  English  soldiers  stood 
side  by  side  on  the  same  battle-fields,  and  they  marched  and 
fought  with  a  noble  emulation.  The  heights  of  the  Alma 
were  stormed  and  taken  Sept  2*0,  1854,  and  the  two  armies, 
supported  by  their  fleets  which  followed  near  the  shore,  oc- 
cupied the  port  of  Balaklava  and  besieged  Sevastopol.  Its 
strong  defenses  resisted  all  their  assaults  for  nearly  a  year. 

478.  The  battle  of  Balaklava,  Oct.  25,  is  chiefly  remark- 
able for  the  "Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade."  In  obedience 
to  a  mistaken  command  a  charge  was  made  down  a  long, 


254 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK.  [A.  D.  1854. 


narrow  valley,  swept  from  either  side  and  from  the  end  by 
the  enemy's  guns.  More  than  six  hundred  men  attempted 
the  hopeless  task;  half  their  number  survived  the  iron  storm 
and  gained  possession  of  the  battery  at  the  end  of  the  gorge, 
spiked  the  guns  and  sabered  the  gunners,  then  rode  back 
by  the  same  perilous  way  they  had  come.  The  Russians 
claimed  the  victory  of  the  day,  but  the  heroic  spirit  of  the 
"Six  Hundred"  was  not  without  its  rewards. 

479.  Ten  days  later,  at  Inkermann,  a  victory  was  gained 
over  immensely  superior  numbers  of  .Russians.  Meanwhile, 
Lord  Raglan,  the  British  commander,  was  feebly  supported 
by  the  ministry  at  home ;  and  the  scanty  supplies  they  sent 
were  often  rendered  useless  by  the  want  of  transportation 
between  the  Crimean  coast  and  the  camp.  Thousands  sick- 
ened and  died  for  want  of  food,  medicines,  and  blankets, 
which  were  only  a  few  miles  away.  The  storms  of  that 
terrible  winter  made  sad  havoc  in  the  British  ranks.  Their 
sufferings  were  somewhat  alleviated  by  the  skillful  and  de- 
voted attentions  of  Florence  Nightingale,  an  English  lady, 
who,  with  her  band  of  trained  nurses,  had  left  all  the  com- 
forts of  home  for  this  toilsome  pilgrimage  of  mercy. 

480.  The  Czar  Nicholas  died  in  March,  1855,  and  the 
brave  Lord  Raglan  in  the  following  June.  Lord  Palmerston, 
a  disciple  of  Pitt  and  Canning,  had  now  succeeded  Lord 
Aberdeen  in  the  British  ministry,  and  the  war  went  on  with 
renewed  energy.  A  fleet  cruising  in  the  Sea  of  Azov,  cap- 
tured several  towns  and  destroyed  immense  stores  of  grain 
which  were  to  have  fed  the  garrison  of  Sevastopol.  Another 
British  fleet  penetrated  the  Baltic  and  Polar  seas,  burning 
timber  and  other  ship-materials,  and  shutting  up  the  Russians 
in  their  harbor  of  Cronstadt,  but  fighting  no  battles.  - 

481.  The  most  decisive  action  of  the  war  took  place  Sept. 
8,  1855,  when  the  French  stormed  the  Malakoff,  and  the 
English  the  Redan,  two  great  forts  which  guarded  the  south 
side  of  Sevastopol.   The  Russian  garrison  retired  to  the  north 


A.  D.  1856.] 


255 


forts;  and  soon  afterward,  through  the  mediation  of  Austria, 
proposals  of  peace  were  entertained.  A  treaty  was  signed  at 
Paris,  in  which  all  the  great  powers,  and  some 
smaller  ones,  had  part.  The  Danube  and  the  ar°  '  l8s6' 
Black  Sea  were  thrown  open  to  the  commerce  of  all  nations, 
but  no  war-vessels,  either  Turkish  or  Russian,  were  permitted 
to  enter  the  latter.  Christians  in  Turkey  were  declared  to 
be  under  the  joint  protection  of  all  the  Christian  powers  of 
Europe  who  were  signers  of  the  treaty. 


RECAPITULATION. 

Chartists'  seditions  at  beginning  of  Victoria's  reign.  Irish  famine 
gives  force  to  Corn  Law  agitations;  and  all  duties  on  grains  are  abol- 
ished. Revolutions  of  1848  leave  England  unharmed.  Marriage  of 
the  Queen  with  the  Saxon  Prince,  Albert.  Industrial  Exhibition  at 
London.  Second  French  Empire.  Alliance  of  France,  England,  and 
Turkey  in  war  against  Russia.  Victories  of  the  Turks.  Invasion  of 
the  Crimea.  Charge  of  the  Six  Hundred  at  Balaklava.  Victories  of 
the  Alma  and  Inkermann.  Sufferings  of  British  soldiers;  self-deny- 
ing services  of  Florence  Nightingale.  Fall  of  Sevastopol.  Peace  of 
Paris. 


VII.  BRITISH  EMPIRE  IN  THE  EAST. 


HEN  the  treaty  of  Paris 
was  signed,  it  was  hoped 
that  many  years  of  peace 
had  been  secured.  But  a  still  more 
terrible  war  soon  demanded  the 
attention  of  the  British  people. 
Their  empire  in  India  had  grown 
in  wealth  and  territory  until,  by 
the  annexation  of  Scinde  and  the  conquest  of  the  Sikhs 
of  the  Punjab,  it  reached  from  the  Indus  to  the  Hoogly, 
and  from  the  Himalayas  to  Pt.  de  Galle.  This  immense 
territory  was  held  in  subjection  by  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
million  of  native  soldiers,  called  Sepoys;  for  the  climate  is 
so  noxious  to  Europeans  that  an  English  army  could  not 
long  be  maintained,  The  Sepoys  usually  regarded  their 
officers  with  a  child-like  confidence  and  affection;  but  they 
were  of  a  timid  and  superstitious  race^  and  any  fancied 
affront  to  their  religion  would  excite  a  rage  of  rebellion. 
When,  in  1856,  their  new  Enfield  rifles  came  out  from 
England,  it  was  whispered  that  the  cartridges  contained 
beef-tallow.  This  was  abomination  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Hindus;  and  though  the  government,  as  soon  as  it  heard 
(256) 


A.  D.  1858.]  THE  SEPOY  REBELLION. 


257 


of  their  scruples,  suppressed  the  cartridges,  their  suspicions 
were  not  allayed.  Mutinies  broke  out  in  Bengal,  Oude,  and 
the  province  of  Delhi,  and  the  soldiers  were  joined  in  their 
revolt  by  the  middle  and  lower  classes  of  the  people. 

483.  Delhi,  the  splendid  capital  of  the  Mogul  emperors, 
with  immense  stores  of  arms,  was  taken  by  the  insurgents, 
and  all  the  European  residents,  men,  women,  and  children, 
were  slaughtered  with  fiendish  cruelty.  Frightful  massacres 
took  place  at  Meerut  and  at  Cawnpore.  A  Scotch  regiment 
was  besieged  five  months  in  Lucknow,  by  a  large  native 
army.  The  English  residents  were  outnumbered,  twenty  to 
one,  by  the  mutinous  Sepoys.  At  this  moment  of  horror,  a 
war-vessel  arrived  from  home,  bearing  Sir  Colin  Campbell 
with  fresh  reinforcements  of  troops.  In  a  few  weeks  Luck- 
now  was  relieved,  Delhi  captured,  and  its  King,  the  last  of 
the  Moguls,  tried  and  sentenced  as  a  mutineer.  Gen.  Have- 
lock,  who  with  a  few  hundreds  of  British  soldiers  had  held 
out  against  eight  or  ten  times  his  number  of  infuriated  rebels, 
and  had  saved  Lucknow  until  relief  could  come,  died  a  few 
days  after  Campbell's  arrival.  The  Queen  had  recognized 
his  devoted  services  by  the  grant  of  a  baronetcy,  but  the 
patent  was  signed  the  day  after  his  death. 

484.  The  rebellion  was  soon  at  an  end.  The  government 
of  Hindustan  was  now  taken  from  the  East  India  Company 
and  vested  in  the  Queen  and  her  Council.  A  Viceroy, 
appointed  by  the  sovereign,  represents  her  in  Calcutta.  A 
Secretary  of  State  for  India,  and  a  Council  of  fifteen  mem- 
bers in  London  have  superseded  the  old  Board  of  Control. 
Railways,  telegraphs,  newspapers,  and  common  schools  have 
already  made  wonderful  changes  in  the  old  heathen  land. 
Hindu  lawyers  study  in  the  temple  at  London,  while  the 
secluded  apartments  of  high-caste  Indian  women  are  open 
to  English  governesses;  and  though  the  government  care- 
fully abstains  from  shocking  the  religious  notions  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  old  superstitions  are  fast  fading  away. 

Eng. —  22. 


258 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


Map  5. 

ZEastlrom.  Greenwich  ^® 


485.  Within  a  hundred  years  the  British  Empire  has  been 
increased  by  the  addition  of  the  great  continent  of  Australia. 
Captain  Cook  visited  Its  southern  coast  in  1772;  and  good 
men  who  were  occupied  with  the  problems  of  crime  and 
poverty  at  home,  conceived  the  idea  of  opening  new  abodes 
in  this  fertile  wilderness  for  the  many  who  were  failing  in 
the  struggle  for  life  in  the  over-crowded  cities  of  England. 
In  1788,  eleven  ships,  laden  with  convicts  and  paupers, 
arrived  in  Sydney  Cove,  and  with  such  unpromising  mate- 


BRITISH  INDIA. 


259 


rials  the  colony  of  New  South  Wales  was  founded.  In  the 
course  of  years,  thousands  of  criminals  proved  the  benefit 
of  honest  toil,  and  became  inspired  by  the  wish  and  hope 
of  a  better  life. 

486.  Australian  wool  became  celebrated  in  European  mar- 
kets. The  transportation  of  convicts  ceased;  but  an  immense 
throng  of  free  settlers  followed,  and  schools,  churches,  and 
all  the  comforts  of  civilized  life  were  multiplied.  A  new  era 
began  with  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  south-eastern  prov- 
inces. For  a  time  there  was  danger  of  famine;  farms,  cities, 
and  ships  were  abandoned,  while  all  the  people  flocked 
to  the  mines.  Necessity,  however,  brought  them  to  their 
senses;  and  the  prosperity  of  the  country  was  increased  by 
a  large  immigration  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Sydney, 
the  capital  of  the  first  colony,  is  the  seat  of  a  bishopric  and 
a  university.  Melbourne,  founded  in  1837,  has  grown  still 
more  rapidly,  and  has  now  about  200,000  inhabitants.  A 
submarine  telegraph  unites  it  in  instant  communication  with 
London. 

487.  The  rich  and  beautiful  islands  of  New  Zealand  were 
visited  and  partly  Christianized  by  English  missionaries  be- 
fore 1840,  at  which  time  their  chiefs  acknowledged  Queen 
Victoria  as  their  sovereign.  The  native  Maoris  are  a  noble 
race;  many,  of  them  are  well  educated,  and  newspapers  are 
published  in  their  language.  Their  intelligence  and  skillful 
use  of  fire-arms  make  them  dangerous  enemies,  as  the  British 
settlers  have  proved  in  recent  wars. 

488.  Within  a  very  few  years  the  Fiji  Islands  have  also 
sought  the  protection  and  submitted  to  the  control  of  the 
British  government.    The  great  war-club,  which 

for  centuries  has  served  their  chiefs  for  a  scepter,  ' D*  1874 
has  been  sent  to  England,  and  is  in  the  Queen's  possession. 

489.  In  the  civil  war  which  threatened  to  destroy  the 
American  Union  (A.  D.  1861  — 1865),  Great  Britain  at 
one  time  seemed  likely  to  be  involved.    The  cutting  off 


260 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


[A.  D.  1861. 


of  the  cotton-supply  occasioned  great  distress  among  the 
Lancashire  weavers.  The  envoys  of  the  Confederate  States 
to  France  and  England  were  seized  by  a  United  States  naval 
officer  on  board  the  British  mail-steamer  Trent,  and  were 
conducted,  as  prisoners,  to  the  harbor  of  New  York.  But 
the  ' 'right  of  search"  (§452)  was  no  longer  in  vogue.  A 
peremptory  demand  for  the  rendition  of  the  passengers  was 
prepared  by  the  British  ministry  to  be  telegraphed  to  the 
government  at  Washington.  The  Prince  Consort  was  then 
on  his  death-bed;  the  note  of  the  ministers  was  carried  to 
him  by  the  Queen.  His  just  and  clear  mind  perceived  the 
greater  wisdom  of  moderation,  and  taking  the  pen,  he  wrote 
his  last  words  in  an  amendment  designed  to  promote  peace 
and  friendship  between  the  two  nations.  It  was  a  worthy 
close  to  the  life  of  the  "  blameless  Prince,"  and  his  media- 
tion was  successful.  The  United  States  government  prompt- 
ly disavowed  the  act  of  its  officer,  and  surrendered  the 
prisoners. 

490.  A  new  danger  arose  from  the  fitting  out  of  ships  in 
British  ports  to  prey  upon  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States.  This  was  the  act  of  private  persons,  but  the  govern- 
ment was  accused  of  negligence  in  suffering  the  pirate-vessels 
to  escape  from  the  ports.  After  the  war  was  ended  in 
America,  a  peaceable  arbitration  was  agreed  upon  by  the 
Treaty  of  Washington,  and  a  board,  composed  of  able  jurists 
from  five  friendly  nations,  met  at  Geneva  in  the  summer  of 
1872,  to  decide  upon  the  compensation  due  to  the  United 
States.  Their  award  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  was  prompt- 
ly paid  by  Great  Britain,  and  the  danger  passed  away. 

Some  of  the  early  dealings  of  England  with  the  Chinese 
Empire  were  contrary,  we  may  believe,  to  the  present  spirit 
of  her  government.  A  lucrative  trade  in  opium  had  long 
been  carried  on  between  the  Hindu  provinces  and  China; 
and  this  was  greatly  increased  when,  in  1833,  the  East  India 
Company's  monopoly  expired,  and  opportunities  for  traffic 


A.  D.  1875.]      PROGRESS  IN  CIVILIZATION. 


261 


were  thrown  open  freely  to  all.  Chinese  markets  were  over- 
filled with  opium;  and  its  effect  was  fatally  evident  in  the 
habits  of  the  people,  already  too  much  addicted  to  its  use. 
The  Chinese  government,  justly  alarmed,  forbade  the  im- 
portation of  the  drug,  but  its  orders  were  evaded,  and  an 
immense  smuggling  trade  still  went  on.  The  government 
then  ordered  the  British  merchants  of  Canton  to  be  im- 
prisoned in  their  warehouses  until  they  surrendered  all  the 
opium  in  their  possession.  England  retaliated  by  seizing 
Canton,  and  bombarding  several  other  cities.  A  war  of 
two  years  followed,  ending  with  the  cession  of  Hong  Kong 
(1842)  to  the  British,  and  the  opening  of  the  principal 
Chinese  ports  to  foreign  trade. 

491.  The  reign  of  Victoria  will  be  chiefly  celebrated  for 
movements  connected  with  the  advance  of  civilization  and 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge.  Even  to  name  the  public  works 
which  facilitate  traffic  and  intercourse;  still  more  to  describe 
the  explorations  of  Livingstone,  Speke,  and  Baker  in  Africa, 
and  of  other  British  heroes  in  various  parts  of  the  world, 
would  be  to  write  a  book  rather  than  to  add  a  page  to  one 
nearly  completed.  The  first  ocean-steamer,  the  Savannah, 
crossed  the  Atlantic  in  the  year  of  the  Queen's 

i-iii-  1  A.  D.  1819. 

birth;  but  the  immense  growth  of  steam  com- 
munication, with  all  parts  of  the  globe,  has  been  since  her 
accession  to  the  throne.  The  ocean-cables  which  in  1858, 
and  afterward  more  successfully  in  1865,  united  Great  Britain 
and  America,  have  been  followed  by  similar  communication 
with  the  remotest  regions,  and  Victoria  is  better  informed  of 
the  hourly  progress  of  affairs  in  Calcutta  and  Melbourne 
than  was  her  grandfather  of  movements  within  a  hundred 
miles  of  his  capital. 

4g2.  The  power  of  the  newspapers,  only  faintly  felt  a 
hundred  years  ago,  is  now  greater  than  fleets,  armies,  the 
royal  will,  or  Parliament  itself ;  for  they  express  the  will  of 
the  people,  which  is  recognized  as  the  source  of  sovereignty. 


262 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


For  centuries  the  education  of  the  higher  classes  has  been 
munificently  provided  for  by  the  great  Universities  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  St.  Andrews  and  Dublin.  It  is  only  lately 
that  sufficient  instruction  for  the  common  people  has  been 
provided  in  National  Schools;  for,  as  a  great  statesman  re- 
marked, "We  must  educate  our  masters.'' 


RECAPITULATION. 

British  Empire  in  India  is  maintained  by  native  troops  under 
British  officers.  Sepoy  Rebellion.  Massacre  of  English  residents 
at  Delhi,  Meerut,  and  Cawnpore.  Success  of  Generals  Havelock, 
Campbell,  and  others.  Diffusion  of  English  ideas  in  India  by  schools, 
railways,  etc.  Australia,  first  colonized  by  criminals  and  paupers, 
increases  wonderfully  in  wealth  and  civilization.  New  Zealand  and 
the  Fiji  islands  added  to  British  Empire  in  the  East. 

Civil  war  in  America  threatens  to  involve  England.  Hostilities 
averted  by  arbitration.  Chinese  war  ends  with  the  cession  of  Hong 
Kong.    Progress  during  the  reign  of  Victoria. 


VIII.  THE  BRITISH  GOVERNMENT. 


S  we  have  now  traced  the  prog- 
ress of  events  by  which  ' '  Wes- 
^  sex  grew  into  England,  England 
into  Great  Britain,  Great  Britain 
into  the  United  Kingdom,  and 
the  United  Kingdom  into  the 
British  Empire,"  it  only  remains 
to  note  the  present  government 
of  that  great  "  Empire  on  which 
the  sun  never  sets/'  and  "  whose 
morning  drum-beat  encircles  the 
globe." 

Britannia.  494.  The  supreme  law-mak- 

ing power  resides  in  Parliament, 
consisting  of  two  branches,  the  Lords  and  the  Commons. 
The  House  of  Lords  has  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
members,  viz.  :  five  royal  dukes,  two  archbishops,  twenty- 
one  dukes,  eighteen  marquises,  one  hundred  and  ten  earls, 
twenty-four  viscounts,  twenty-four  bishops,  two  hundred  and 
forty  barons,  sixteen  Scotch  and  twenty-eight  Irish  repre- 
sentative peers.  The  last  two  classes  are  elected  by  their 
own  order.  The  bishops  hold  their  places  by  the  Queen's 
appointment;  all  the  rest  by  hereditary  right.  A  Supreme 
Court  has  recently  been  created  for  the  trial  of  such  ap- 
pealed cases  as  were  formerly  decided  by  the  House  of 
Lords. 

495.  The  House  of  Commons  has  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight  members,  elected  to  represent  counties,  cities,  or 
boroughs,   and  the  universities.    Three-fourths  of  all  the 

(263) 


264 


HOUSE  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


members  are  from  England  and  Wales.  The  Commons  hold 
the  power  of  the  purse  and  the  sword.  Their  first  duty  after 
assembling  is  to  provide  for  the  expenses  of  the  government ; 
and  this  they  are  careful  to  do  for  only  one  year  at  a  time. 
The  Mutiny  Act,  by  which  alone  in  time  of  peace  army 
officers  can  compel  the  obedience  of  their  men,  is  also 
renewed  each  year;  so  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  govern- 
ment to  oppress  the  people  either  by  forced  loans  or  by  a 
military  despotism. 

496.  The  executive  power  is  nominally  vested  in  the  sov- 
ereign; but,  as  a  king  or  queen  can  not  legally  be  called  to 
account,  the  responsibility  is  committed  to  a  cabinet  of  min- 
isters. They  hold  office  only  so  long  as  they  have  a  majority 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  At  their  head  is  the  First  Lord 
of  the  Treasury,  who  often  holds  the  additional  office  of 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  He  chooses  his  colleagues, 
who  then  become,  severally,  Lord  Chancellor,  Lord  Privy 
Seal,  President  of  the  Council,  or  one  of  the  five  Secretaries 
of  State.  To  these  are  usually  added  the  Chief  Commissioner 
of  Public  Works,  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  Postmaster  General,  and  the 
President  of  the  Poor  Law  Board. 

497.  Strange  to  say,  the  Cabinet,  though  forming  for  a 
hundred  years  so  essential  a  part  of  the  government,  is  not 
recognized  by  the  laws,  nor  is  any  record  made  of  its  pro- 
ceedings. As  its  acts  are  subject  to  question  and  criticism 
in  Parliament,  all  its  members  must  belong  to  one  or  other 
of  the  two  Houses  of  Lords  and  Commons.  But  so  real  is 
their  power  that  they  are  commonly  called  4  4  the  Govern- 
ment." 

498.  If  any  important  measure  proposed  by  the  govern- 
ment is  lost  in  Parliament,  the  ministry  usually  resign,  with- 
out waiting  for  the  "  vote  of  want  of  confidence,"  which 
would  effectually  end  their  power.  The  Queen  then  sends 
for  the  leader  of  the  opposing  party,  whom  she  requests  to 


GLADSTONE  AND  D"  ISRAELI. 


265 


form  a  Cabinet,  and  the  late  ministry,  in  their  turn,  "go  into 
opposition."  It  has  been  wittily  and  truly  said  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  Great  Britain  is  a  duarchyy  consisting  of  the  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Chief  of  the  Opposition.  The 
latter,  though  holding  no  office  except  his  place  in  Parlia- 
ment, is  the  principal  critic  of  government  measures,  and  is 
ready  to  assume  chief  power  upon  any  change  of  sentiment 
in  the  country  at  large. 

499.  Thus  Mr.  Gladstone,  though  personally  the  most 
popular  man  in  the  Empire,  was  not  sustained  by  the  Com- 
mons in  his  liberal  measures  for  the  reform  of  the  Irish  uni- 
versities. Believing  that  the  sentiment  of  the  people  might 
have  changed  since  the  election  of  their  representatives,  he 
"  threw  himself  on  the  country"  by  dissolving  A  D  s 
Parliament  and  calling  for  a  new  election.  This 
gave  the  voters  an  opportunity  to  express  their  opinion  upon 
the  point  now  at  issue, — not  merely,  as  before,  upon  the 
general  merits  of  liberal  or  conservative  policy.  The  new 
Parliament  had  a  majority  against  him  of  seventy  members. 
He  therefore  retired  from  office,  and  Mr.  DTsraeli,  the 
leader  of  the  Conservatives,  was  intrusted  by  the  Queen 
with  the  formation  of  a  new  government. 


Eng. —23. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW. 


PART  •  V. 


1.  What  attempts  by  the  Stuarts  to  regain  the  British  throne? 

?§  406,  407,  414,  415 

2.  Reasons  for  alliance  between  England  and  France.  408 

3.  What  cause  of  complaint  against  the  first  two  Hanoverian 

kings  ?  409,  414 

4.  Describe  the  South  Sea  Scheme  and  its  results.  410 

5.  What  causes  of  dispute  between  Spain  and  England?  412 

6.  What  led  to  War  of  Austrian  Succession  ?  413 

7.  How  did  it  affect  the  American  colonies?  416 

8.  What  part  had  England  in  the  Seven  Years'  War?  417,  418,  423 

9.  What  was  the  French  policy  in  America?  419,  427 

10.  What  changes  in  India?  420,  421,  439,  440,  482-484 

11.  Describe  the  reign  and  character  of  George  III.  422,  436,  451,  459 

12.  The  ministry  of  the  elder  Pitt.    417,  418,  423,  428,  436 

13.  The  grievances  of  the  American  colonies.  426-429 

14.  The  War  of  Independence,  and  its  effect  upon 

England.  43°-43% 

15.  How  was  England  affected  by  the  French  Revolution?  441-443 

16.  What  part  had  she  in  wars  with  Napoleon?  444-450 

17.  Describe  the  war  with  the  United  States.  452-454 

18.  The  last  years  of  Napoleon.  455,  456 

19.  Results  of  the  Twenty  Years'  War.  457,  458 

20.  Character  of  George  IV.  459 

21.  Policy  of  Canning's  administration.  460 

22.  The  rise  and  progress  of  newspapers.   387,  395,  425,  492 

23.  Tell  the  history  of  Parliamentary  Reform.  424,  425,  463-465 

24.  What  part  was  taken  by  England  in  the  Greek  Revolution  ?  461 

25.  Describe  William  IV.  462 

26.  What  revolutions  in  1830?  463 

27.  Describe  Peel's  administration.  465,  468,  469 

28.  What  were  the  demands  of  the  Chartists?  468,  470 

(266) 


GENERAL  REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 


267 


29.  What  were  the  events  of  1848?  §g  470,  471 

30.  What  led  to  the  Russo-Turkish  War  ?  473,  474 

31.  Describe  the  campaigns  of  Omar  Pasha.  475,  476 

32.  The  Invasion  of  the  Crimea.  477-481 

33.  The  Sepoy  Rebellion.  482,  483 

34.  What  recent  additions  to  the  British  Empire  in  the  East?  485-487 

35.  How  was  England  affected  by  the  American  Civil  War?  489,  490 

36.  What  evidences  of  progress  during  Victoria's  reign  ?  472,  487,  488 

37.  What  is  the  supreme  law-making  power  in  the  British 

Empire?  494,  495 

38.  Describe  the  executive  power.  496-499 


GENERAL  REVIEW. 


How  many  races  have  ruled  England  ? 
How  many  different  seats  of  government? 
What  was  Egbert's  capital  ? 

What  foreign  princes  have  been  educated  in  England  ? 
What  English  kings  have  spent  their  youth  in  exile? 
What  kings  of  England  died  in  France  ? 
How  many  died  by  violence? 

How  many  queens  have  ruled  England  in  their  own  right  ? 
Name  the  four  chief  rivers  of  England. 
What  are  the  boundaries  between  England  and  Scotland  ? 
Name  the  counties  on  the  southern  coast. 

"       "       "  "     eastern  " 

"       "  two  most  northern  counties. 
What  counties  border  on  Wales? 
Name  all  the  inland  counties. 
What  are  the  principal  English  seaports  ? 
What  neighboring  islands  belong  to  Great  Britain? 
Name  the  two  largest  cities  in  Scotland. 

"     the  chief  towns  in  Ireland. 


BOOKS  RECOMMENDED 


FOR  MORE  EXTENSIVE  READING  OF  ENGLISH  HISTORY. 

Knight's  Popular  History  of  England.    8  vols. 
Green's  Short  History  of  the  English  People. 

A  single,  compact  volume,  admirably  prepared. 

Turner's  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 
Freeman's  Norman  Conquest.    3  vols. 

"       Old  English  History. 
Cobbe's  History  of  the  Norman  Kings  of  England. 
Miss  Strickland's  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England. 

"  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scotland,  and  of 

English  Princesses  connected  with  the 
Succession. 

Froude's  History  of  England  from  the  Death  of  Wolsey  to 
the  Death  of  Elizabeth. 

Froude's  History  of  the  English  in  Ireland. 

Gardiner's  History  of  England  under  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham and  Charles  I. 

Hume's  History  of  England  to  A.  D.  1688. 

Macaulay's  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of 
James  II. 

Macaulay's  Essays  on  Milton,  Hampden,  Clive,  Hastings, 

the  two  Pitts,  et  al. 
Carlyle's  Life  and  Letters  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
Bishop  Burnet's  History  of  His  Own  Time. 
Clarendon's  History  of  the  Civil  Wars. 

Hallam  and  May's  Constitutional  History  of  England  from 

the  Accession  of  Henry  VII. 
Campbell's  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors. 

"        Lives  of  the  Chief  Justices  of  England. 
Lord  Mahon's  History  of  England  from  the  Peace  of  Utrecht 

to  the  Peace  of  Versailles. 
(268) 


BOOKS  RECOMMENDED, 


269 


Molesworth's  History  of  England  from  A.  D.  1830. 

Mrs.  Oliphant's  Sketches  of  Noted  Characters  in  the  Reign 

of  George  II. 
Jesse's  Life  and  Reign  of  George  III.  * 

Adolphus,  Massey,  and  H.  Walpole  have  written  voluminously  on 
the  same  reign,  from  different  points  of  view. 

Kinglake's  Invasion  of  the  Crimea. 

Prof.  Stubbs'  Documents  Illustrative  of  English  History. 

Contains  the  original  text  of  early  laws  and  treaties, — e.  g.9  that 
between  Alfred  and  Guthrum,  see  p.  29, —  Magna  Charta,  etc.,  to  the 
Concessions  of  Edward  I. ;  also,  in  an  Appendix,  the  Petition  of 
Rights,  p.  170,  and  the  Bill  of  Rights,  p.  204. 

Valuable  for  Geographical  Illustration  of  English  History  are: 

Knight's  "The  Land  we  Live  in." 

"       "  London  :  a  Historical  and  Topographical  Account 

of  the  British  Metropolis,"  and 
"       "  Cyclopaedia  of  London,"  abridged  from  the  above. 

Among  innumerable  works  in  Lighter  Literature,  the  following 
are  recommended : 

Kingsley's  Hereward,  the  Last  of  the  English. 

"        Sir  Amyas  Leigh:  or,  Westward  Ho! 

"        Two  Years  Ago. 
Bulwer's  Harold. 

"       The  Last  of  the  Barons. 
Scott's  Historical  Novels. 
Thackeray's  Henry  Esmond. 

"  The  Virginians. 

"  Lectures  on  the  Four  Georges. 

"  "  "      English  Humorists. 

George  MacDonald's  St.  Michael  and  St.  George. 
Mrs.  Charles'  The  Draytons  and  Davenants. 
Tennyson's  Idylls  of  the  -King, 

"         Queen  Mary. 


INDEX. 


Note. — Italic  letters  following  the  name  designate  the  maps  on  which  it  may  be 
found.    See  Contents  for  location  of  the  Maps.    Figures  refer  to  pages. 


At/ercrombie,  Gen.,  238. 
Aberdeen',  i,  185. 

J.ord,  253. 
Ab'ingdon,  Hi,  54. 
A/bury,  u,  12. 
Acre  (a'ker),  76,  237. 
Ad'dison,  Joseph,  215. 
Adelaide,  Queen,  247. 
Adrian,  Pope,  135. 
.Ella,  22. 
Ae/tius,  18. 

Agincourt  (a-zhaN-kooiy)»  w9  vit 

battle  of,  in,  112. 
Agric'ola,  14. 
Aidan,  20. 

Aix-la-Chapelle  (aks-la-shapeK) , 
iv,  194;  Treaty  of,  223. 

Albany,  City,  193. 

"       Duke  of,  109,  no. 

Albemarle,  Duke  of.    See  Monk, 

Albert,  Prince  of  Saxe-Coburg  and 
Gotha,  251,  260. 

Alcuin,  53. 

Alfred.  See  England,  Sovereigns  of. 
Ambro'sius,  18. 

America,  discov.  of,  128;  Drake's 
voyage  to,  155;  slavery  in, 
157;  colonies  in,  164;  migra- 
tion to,  172;  Commonwealth 
recognized,  185;  Dutch  set- 
tlements seized,  193;  214; 
French  and  Indian  War,  223- 
225  ;  Revolution  in,  229-234; 
246 ;  Civil  War  in,  259. 


Am/iens,  iv,  238. 
Angles,  20,  22. 
Anglesey,  i,  Hi,  vi,  13. 
Anglia,  it,  Hi,  20. 
Anjou    (iiN-zhooO)   iv,  Geoffrey, 
Count  of,  66;   68;   78;  re- 
stored to  France,  99 ;  Philip, 
Duke  of,  210. 
Anne  Ascue  burnt,  142. 
"    of  Bohemia,  106. 
"    Boleyn  (bool'en),  136;  mar- 
riage confirmed,  138;  be- 
headed, 140. 
"    of  Cleves,  140. 
"    Stuart.    See  Great  Britain, 
Sovereigns  of. 
Anselm,   Archbishop   of  Canter- 
bury, 63  ;  contest  with  king, 
64;  65. 

Antwerp,  iv,  destroyed,  155;  un- 
der Napoleon,  237. 
Aquitaine',  68,  78. 
Archangel,  157. 

Arcot',  v,  capture  and  defense  of, 
225. 

Argyle,  Earl  and  Marquis  of, 
leader  of  Covenanters,  172; 
179 ;  executed,  192. 

Argyle,  Eari  of,  beheaded,  201. 

Argyleshire,  17. 

Arlington,  Earl  of,  194. 

Armagh,  i,  university  at,  19. 

Artevelde,  Jacques  van  (zhiik),  96. 

Arthur,  King,  19. 

(271) 


272 


INDEX, 


Art. 


Arthur,  Prince  of  Brittany,  78. 
Ascalon,  76. 
Ashley,  194. 

Asia,  98;  128;  210;  225. 
Ath'elstan,  Prince,  27. 

"  King.    See  England, 

Sovereigns  of. 

At'tila,  18. 

Au'gustine,  missionary  to  Eng- 
land, 22. 

Australia,  258 ;  259. 

Austria,  Duke  of,  77 ;  War  of  the 
Succession,  221-223;  defeated 
by  Napoleon,  23S  ;  joins  Holy 
Alliance,  2^4;  in  Crimean 
Y/ar,  252-255. 

Azov,  English  fleet  in,  254. 

Bacon,  Roger,  86. 

"       Francis,  160;  166. 
Baker,  Sir  Samuel,  in  Africa,  261. 
Balaklava,  battle  cf,  253. 
Baliol,  John,  crowned,  89;  sub- 
mits to  Edward  I.,  90;  96. 
Ball,  John,  105. 
Baltic  Sea,  26 ;  104 ;  254. 
Bannockburn,  defeat  at,  95. 
Bar'bary,  188. 
Barfleur',  w9  vi9  66. 
Barnet,  i9  battle  at,  121, 
Beachy  Head,  vi9  208. 
Beaufort,  Cardinal,  1 16. 
Becket,  Thomas  a,  life  of,  70-73. 
Bede,  Venerable,  52. 
Belgium,  236 ;  247. 
Belleisle  (bel-lle7),  iv9  228. 
Benedictines,  38;  52. 
Bengal',  v9  225;  235. 
Berengaria  of  Navarre,  76. 
Berlin',  Napoleon  at,  239. 
Berni/cia,  ii9  20. 
Bertha,  Queen  of  Kent,  22;  23. 
Berwick,  i9  iii9  vi9  76;  90;  96. 
Birmingham,  vi%  228;  247. 


Black  Sea,  255. 

Black'water  R.,  i9  battle  at,  159. 

Blake,  Adm.,  in  Portugal,  185; 
defeats  Van  Tromp,  186;  de- 
feats the  Spaniards,  dies,  188. 

Blenheim,  battle  of,  213. 

Boadicea,  13;  14. 

Boethius,  30. 

Bohe/mia,  97 ;    Reformation  in, 

106;  165 ;  167. 
Boleyn.    See  Anne  of. 
Bombay',  v9  195;  225  ;  235. 
Bonaparte.    See  Napoleon  I. 

"       Joseph,  240. 
Bonner,  Bishop  of  London,  146. 
Bordeaux  (-do'),  iv9  100. 
Boston,  during  Revolution,  230; 

231. 

Bosworth  Field,  i9  z'l,  bat.  of,  124. 
Bothwell  Bridge,  vi9  bat.  of,  19S. 
"       Earl  of,  marries  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  154. 
Boulogne  (boo^On'),  iv9  vi9  141, 

238. 

Bourges  (boorzh),  iv,  114. 
Boyle,  Robert,  invents  air-pump, 
204. 

Boyne,  battle  of  the,  t\  208. 

Bradshaw,  John,  judge  of  Charles 
I.,  180;  191. 

Braganza,  Catherine  of,  195. 

Brandon,  Charles,  Duke  of  Suf- 
folk, 133. 

Breda  (bra'dii),  190;  193. 

Bretigny  (breteen've),  iv9  99. 

Bretwal'da,  20;  22. 

Brihtric  (bre'trik),  King  of  Wes- 
sex,  24. 

Bristol,  i9  iii9  vi9  captured  by  Ru- 
pert, 176;  surrendered,  178. 

Britain,  ii9  early  history  of,  9-19. 

Britons,  and  Romans,  11-14;  in 
the  west,  19;  Christianity 
among,  20,  23  ;  24. 


Cha. 


INDEX. 


2  73 


Brittany,  w,  78;  96;  123. 
Brock,  Gen.,  captures  Detroit,  242. 
Brougham  (broom),  Lord,  247. 
Bruce,  Robert,  life  of,  92-94. 

"      David,  95  ;  96. 
Bru'nanburgh,  m\  battle  at,  36. 
Brussels,  189. 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  his  career, 
166-171. 

Burgoyne,  Gen.,  surrenders,  232. 

Burke,  Edmund,  235. 

Burleigh,  Lord,  (William  Cecil,) 

151,  160. 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  m,  vi\  28. 
Bute,  Earl  of,  227;  228. 
Byng,  Admiral,  executed,  224. 

Cabal,  names  of,  194. 
Cabot,  his  discoveries,  128. 
Cade,  Jack,  117. 
Ca'diz,  156;  burnt,  158. 
Ccedmon,  poet,  53 ;  107. 
Caen  (koN),  ?V,  62. 
Caesar,  Julius,  11. 
Calais  (kii-ls'),    it,  tv,  vi,  captured 

by  Edward  III.,  97,  98;  100; 

Field  of  Cloth  of  Gold  at,  134; 

captured  by  French,  149. 
Calcutta,  v,  225  ;  235. 
Caledo'nians,  14;  17. 
Cam/bridge,  /,  mt  vi,  261. 
Cambusken'neth,  92. 
Campbell,  Sir  Colin,  257. 
Campeg'gio,  papal  legate,  136. 
Camperdown,  battle  off,  237. 
Campian,  executed,  155. 
Canada,  230,  231;  invaded,  242; 

revolt  in,  250. 
Canning,  George,  in  Cabinet,  246. 
Canterbury,  z-ui\vi,  archbishopric 

founded,  23 ;   Dunstan,  apb. 

of,  38;  Stigand,  apb.  of,  50; 

Anselm,  apb.  of,  63  ;  Becket, 

apb.  of,  73  ;  Henry  II.  at,  73. 


Canton,  261. 

Caracalla,  Emp.  of  Romans,  15. 
Carac'tacus  (Caradoc),  12. 
Carau'sius,  Ct.  of  Saxon  Bord.,  16. 
Cardiff,  2',  ?'/,  vif  66. 
Car'ibbee  Islands,  captured,  22S. 
Car'isbrook,  Charles  I.  at,  179. 
Carlisle,  ?-///,  v?\  battle  at,  90;  93. 
Caroline   of   Anspach,    wife  of 

George  II.,  220. 
Caroline  of  Brunswick,  wife  of 

George  IV.,  244. 
Carr,  Robert,  favorite  of  James  I., 

166. 

Carrickfer'gus,  z,  besieged,  208. 

Cartage'na,  S.  A.,  English  re- 
pulsed at,  221. 

Castile  (kas-teel'),  Black  Prince 
in,  100;  103. 

Castlereagh,  Lord,  minist.  of,  244. 

Catherine  of  Aragon,  marries  Ar- 
thur, 130;  marries  Henry 
VIII.,  132;  divorced,  136-138. 

Catherine  of  Braganza,  Avife  of 
Charles  II.,  195. 

Cavendish,  Sir  Thomas,  160. 

Cawnpore/,      massacre  at,  257. 

Caxton,  William,  introduces  print- 
ing, 121,  122. 

Cecil,  Robert,  15 1  ;  160. 

"     William.    See  Burleigh. 

Celts,  10;  35. 

Cerdic,  founder  of  Wessex.  24; 

47;  65; 
Ceylon7,  v,  225. 
Chalgrove  Field,  vi,  176. 
Champlain  Lake,  242. 
Charlemagne,  23,  24;  237. 
Charles  I.  of  Spain  (Emp.  Charles 

V.),  134-136;  146. 
Charles  II.  of  Spain,  210. 
«      IV.      "  240. 
"      VI.,  Emp.,  son  of  Leopold 
I.,  210. 


274 


INDEX. 


Cha. 


Charles  V.  of  France,  ioo;  103. 

"      VII.      "  112-116. 
VIII.    "  129. 

«      X.        "  247. 

"      XII.  of  Sweden,  219. 

"       I.   and  II.   of  England. 

See  Great  Britain,  Sovereigtzs  of. 
Charles  of  Anjou,  1 16. 
Charlotte,  Princess,  244. 
Chartists,  250,  251. 
Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  poet,  106,  107. 
Chester,  /,       vi,  17;  29. 
Chevalier  St.  George.  See  Stuart, 

James  Francis. 
Cheviot  Hills,  i,  vi,  133. 
China,  160;  war  in,  260,  261. 
Clare,  Richard  de,  subdues  Ire- 

land,  72. 
Clarendon,  Constitutions  of,  71. 

"       Earl  of,  172;  194. 
Clarkson,  Thomas,  248. 
Clement  VII.,  Pope,  135,  136. 
Clive,  Robert,  225  ;  235. 
Clyde,  Firth  of,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  14. 
Cobden,  Richard,  250. 
Col'chester,  i,  ii,  vi,  burnt,  14. 
Cologne,  iv,  189. 
Colum'ba,  at  Iona,  20. 
Columbus,  Christopher,  128;  149. 
Commonwealth,  The,  183-190. 
Comyn,  Earl,  92. 
Constantine  the  Great,  Emp.,  17. 
Constantinople,  59;  128;  252,  253. 
Constan'tius  Chlo/rus,  Emp.,  17. 
Cook,  Captain,  258. 
Copenhagen,  bombarded,  240. 
Cork,  i,  158. 

Cornwall,  i,  ii,  vi,  Britons  in,  19  ; 
23;  rebellion  in,  130;  176. 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  surrend.  of,  233. 

Cranmer,  Thomas,  advises  king, 
137;  archbp.,  138;  compiles 
Prayer  Book,  143  ;  burnt,  148. 

Crecy,  iv,  vi,  battle  of,  97. 


Crimea,  war  in,  253-255. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  172;  in  com- 
mand, 177-179;  in  Ireland, 
183,  184;  dissolves  Parlia- 
ment, 186;  Lord  Protector, 
187  ;  dies,  189  ;  191  ;  195. 

Cromwell,  Richard,  189. 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  Secretary  of 
State,  137;  Vicar-gen.,  139; 
severity  of,  beheaded,  140. 

Cronstadt,  254. 

Crusades,  first,  64;  75,  76;  eighth, 

85 ;  results  of,  86. 
Cullo'den  Moor,  battle  of,  223. 
Cumberland,  vi,  39  ;  90. 

"   Duke  William  of,  222-224. 

"    Duke  Ernest  of.    See  Er- 
nest Augustus. 
Cumbria.    See  Sirathclyde,  19;  54. 
Cuthbert,  missionary,  20. 
Cyprus,  Richard  I.  at,  76. 

Dal'rymple,  Sir  John,  208. 

Danelagh,  33 ;  desolated,  58. 

Danes,  26-30;  35-43- 

Danube,  253;  255. 

Darnley,  Lord,  marries^  Queen  of 
Scots,  150;  killed,  154. 

David  I.  of  Scotland,  67. 

Dee,  R.,  Hi,  vi,  38. 

Deira,  ii,  Hi,  20-23 ;  becomes 
Yorkshire,  37. 

Delaware,  R.,  205  ;  232. 

Delhi  (del'lee),  v,  captured,  257. 

Denmark,  39;  43;  61;  237;  war 
with,  240. 

Derby,  i,  Hi,  vi,  222. 
"     Earl  of,  247. 

Derwentwater,  E.  of,  behead.,  219. 

Despenser,  Hugh,  favorite  of  Ed- 
ward II.,  95. 

Detroit,  captured,  243. 

Det'tingen,  battle  of,  222. 

Devizes,  vi,  battle  at,  176. 


Eng. 


INDEX. 


275 


Dev'on,  vi,  19. 

De  Witt,  Dutch  minister,  194. 
D'Isra'eli,  Prime  Minister,  265. 
Dominicans,  rise  of,  86,  87. 
Douay',  155. 

Dover,  i-iv9  vi,  tumult  in,  44  ;  47  ; 
surrendered  to  William,  50; 
defended,  83;  Treaty  of,  194, 
195. 

Dowlah,  Surajah,  225. 

Drake,   Adm.,  voyage   of,    155  ; 

off  Spain,  157. 
Drogheda,  ?',  158;  captured,  183. 
Druids,  account  of,  12,  13. 
Dryden,  John,  poet,  191. 
Dublin,  z,  129;  158;  174;  262. 
Dudley,  serves  Henry  VII.,  131. 
Dumbarton,  /,  90. 
Dumfries7,  t\  vi,  92. 
Dunbar,  /,  //,  vi,  90;  96;  184. 
Dundee7,  z',  massacre  at,  185. 
"        Viscount,   brutality  of, 
198;  killed,  207. 
Dunkirk,  vi,  acquired,  188 ;  sold, 

192;  214. 
Dttn'stan,  career  of,  36-39 ;  52. 
Duquesne  (-kane),  fort,  225. 
Dutch,  navy,   186;   in  America, 

193;  194. 

Eadburga,  24. 

East  Anglia,  ii,  Hi,  20,  24. 

East  India  Company,  charter  re- 
newed, 164;  its  forts,  225; 
its  power,  235;  limited,  236; 
256;  gov't  of  India  transferred 
to  the  crown,  257;  260. 

Edgar,  Edred,  Edwin,  Egbert,  etc. 
See  England,  Sovereigns  of. 

Edinburgh,  became  capital,  38 ; 
96;  180;  seized  by  Cromwell, 
184;  surprised,  222. 

Edric,  Duke  of  Mercia,  41. 

Egypt,  Napoleon  in,  237,  238. 


Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  mar.  Henry 
II.,  68  ;  aids  revolt,  73  ;  77. 

Eleanor  of  Provence,  mar.  Henry 
HI.,  83,  84. 

Elgiva  (el-ge'va),  qu.  of  Edwy,  37. 

Eliot,  Sir  John,  imprisoned,  169. 

Emma  of  Normandy,  40 ;  42. 

Empson,  serves  Henry  VII.,  131. 

England,  Sovereigns  of : 

Saxon  Line. 
With  date  of  Aceession. 
Egbert,  A.  D.  827,  24-27. 
Ethelwolf,  837,  27. 
Ethelbald,  858,  27. 
Ethelbert,  860,  27. 
Ethelred,  866,  27. 
Alfred,  871,    27-31;  53. 
Edward  I.,  901,  31. 
Athelstan,  925,    35,  36. 
Edmund,  940,  36. 
Edred,  946,  36. 
Edwy,  955,  37. 
Edgar,  958,  37-39. 
Edward  II.,  975,  39. 
Ethelred  II.,  978,  39-41. 
Edmund  II.,  1016,    41,  42. 

Danish  Kings. 
Knut,  A.  D.  1016,  40-43. 
Harold  I.,  1035,  43- 
Hardiknut,  1040,  43. 

Saxons  Restored. 
Edward  III.,  the  Confessor, 

A.  D.  1042,  43-4S. 
Harold  II.,  1066,  46-50. 

Norman  Line. 
William  I.,  A.  D.  1066,  45, 

49-5 1>  54,  57-62. 
William  II.,  1087,  62-65. 
Henry  I.,  1100,    62,  65-67. 
Stephen,  1 135,  67-69. 


276 


INDEX. 


Eng. 


England,  Sovereigns  of,  (contin.)  : 

Plantagenets. 

Henry  II.,  A.  D.  1 154,  68-74. 
Richard  I.,  1 189,  74-77. 
John,  1 199,     74,  77-81. 
Henry  III.,  1216,  S3-S6. 
Edward  I.,  1272,    85,  88-93. 
Edward  .11.,  1307,    94;  95. 
•    Edward  III.,  1327,  95-101. 
Richard  II.,  1377,  102-106. 

House  of  Lancaster. 

Henry  IV.,  A.  D.  1399,  104, 

1 08- 1 10. 
Henry  V.,  1413,  110-113. 
Henry  VI.,  142,2,     1 14-12 1. 

House  of  York. 

Edward   IV.,   A.    D.    146 1, 

11S-122. 
Edward  V.,  1483,  123. 
Richard  III.,  1483,  122-124. 

Tudors. 

Henry  VII.,  A.  D.  1485,  123; 

124;  127-131. 
Henry  VIII.,  1509,  132-142. 
Edw.  VI.,  1547,  140;  143-145- 
Mary,  1553,  136;  145-149. 
Elizabeth,  1558-1603,  138; 
151-160;  194. —  See  Great 
Britain,  Sovereigns  of. 

Engles.    See  Angles, 

English  Pale,  158. 

Enniscor'thy,  i,  237. 

EnniskiFlen,  /,  208. 

Erie,  L.,  defeat  on,  242. 

Ernest  Augustus,  D.  of  Cumber- 
land, 215  ;  King  of  Hanover, 
248. 

Essex,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  20 ;  27. 

"    2d  Earl  of,  Elizabeth's  favor- 
ite, 159; 


Essex,  3d '  Earl  of,  in  command, 

17S~l77- 
"    4th  Earl  of,  in  Rye  House 
Plot,  197. 
Ethandune,  i,  Hi,  28,  29. 
Eugene  of  Savoy,  at  Blenheim,  213. 
Eustace  of  Boulogne,  visits  Eng- 
land, 44. 
Evesham,  /,  battle  at,  85. 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  in  command, 
176-178. 

Falkirk,  z,  battles  near,  92,  223. 

Falkland,  Lord,  killed,  176. 

Fawkes,  Guy,  plot  of,  163. 

Ferdinand  I.,  King  of  Spain,  130; 
conquers  Navarre,  132. 

Ferdinand  VII.,  King  .of  Spain, 
proclaimed,  240. 

Ferdinand  II.  of  Austria,  165. 

Fiji  Islands,  acquired,  259. 

Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  be- 
headed, 138. 

ders,  iv,  49  ;  90 ;  trade  with, 
103;  149;  Marlborough  in, 
213- 

Flemings,  invade  Eng.,  73;  9' 
weavers  settle  in  Eng.,  10 

Flint  Castle,  i,  vi,  104. 

Flodden  Field,  i,  vi,  battle  of,  I 

Florida,  221  ;  acquired,  228. 

Forth,  Firth  of,  i-iii,  14. 

Foth'eringay,  /,  Qu.  Mary  at,  I 

Fox,  Geo.,  founds  Quakers,  2e 
"     Chas.  James,  minister,  2' 

France,  w9  26 ;  war  with,  90,  t 
Edward  III.  in,  96;  101,  i( 
Henry  V.  and  VI.  in,  m-i? 
132;  under  Francis  L,  II 
135  ;    acquires   Calais,  U 
■  under  Francis  IT.,  153;  Kj4; 
James   II.    in,    203;  under 
Louis  XIV.,  210,  214;  Rev- 
olution in,  236 ;  under  Napo- 


Gut. 


INDEX. 


277 


leon,  237-243;    246;  under 
Louis  Philippe,  247 ;  in  Cri- 
mea, 252-255. 
Francis  L,  K.  of  France,  133-135. 

"      H.»        "  153. 
Franciscans,  rise  of,  86 ;  87. 
Frederic,  Elect.  Palatine,  165  ;  175. 
"       the  Great,  England  aids, 
221  ;  224. 
Fro'bisher,  Sir  Martin,  160. 

Gardiner,   Bishop,    Mary  favors, 

146,  147. 
Gaunt,  John  of,   in  Spain,  100, 

103  ;  dies,  104. 
Gaunt,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  burnt,  201. 
Gaveston,  Piers,  favorite,  94. 
Geneva,  iv9  153 ;  arbitration  at, 

260. 

George  L,  II.,  III.,  IV.  See  Great 
Britain,  Sovereigns  of. 

Germany,  96;  Charles  V.,  Emp. 
of,  134,  136,  147;  Napoleon 
in,  239. 

Ghent,  iv,  John  of,  100;  submis- 
sion of,  103  ;  Treaty  of,  243. 

Gibraltar,  capture  of,  213,  214; 
besieged,  233 ;  240. 

Giurge'vo,  battle  at,  253. 

Gladstone,  Win.  E.,  premier,  265. 

Glasgow,  t,  vi,  154;  198;  223. 

Glastonbury,  wi,  vi,  36. 

Glencoe',  i,  massacre  of,  208. 

Gloucester  (glos'ter),  /,  ii,  vi,  33. 
Earl  of,  68. 
"        Dukes  of,  103,  116. 

Godfrey,  195 ;  200. 

Godoy,  Prince  of  the  Peace,  240. 

Godwin,  Earl,  history  of,  43-46. 

Good  Hope,  Cape  of,  128. 

Graham.    See  Dundee,  Viscount. 

Grasse,  Count  de,  defeated,  233. 

Gravelines  (gra-va-Ieen'),  iv,  135. 

Great  Britain,  i,  Phoenicians  in,  10; 


Danes  in,  39;  88;  union  of, 
2I3  5  government  of,  263.  See 
England,  Sovereigns  of. 
Great  Britain,  Sovereigns  of : 

House  of  Stuart. 

With  date  of  Accession. 
James  I.,  A.  D.  1603,  154; 

162-167. 
Charles  I.,  1625,  167-181. 
Commonwealth,  1649-1660, 

183-190. 
Charles  II.,  1660,     181-185  ; 

189-199. 
James  II.,  1685-1688,  193; 

195-198;  200-205;  208-210. 
Interregnum  of  two  months. 
William  III.  and  Mary  II., 

1689,    198;  202;  203;  207- 

209. 

William    III.    alone,  1694, 

209-2 1 1 . 
Anne,  1702,     198;  209;  212- 

215- 

House  of  Hanover 
(Brunswick). 

George  I.,  A.  D.  1714,  218- 
220. 

George  II.,  1727,  220-226. 
George  III.,  1760,  226-245. 
George  IV.,  1820,    241  ;  243- 
247. 

William  IV.,  1830,  247-249. 

Victoria,  1837,  248-265. 
Greeks,  1 1 ;  246. 
Gregory  I.,  Pope,  22;  23. 
Grenville,  Lord,  minister,  229. 
Grey,  Lady  J.,  history  of,  145-147. 

"     Earl,  premier,  247. 
Grosseteste  (-late),  Bishop,  85. 
Guienne  (ge-ei/),  fy\  78;  £8;  90; 

98 ;  lost,  116;  132. 
Gu thrum,  Danish  chief,  28;  29. 


278 


INDEX. 


Had. 


Hadrian,  Emperor,  14. 

Halifax,  settled,  223. 

Halley,  astronomer,  204. 

Hammond,  Col.,  179. 

Hampden  John,  refusal  of  forced 
loan,  170;  of  ship  money, 
172 ;  death  of,  176. 

Hampden  John,  grandson,  197. 

Hampshire  (Hants),  vi,  64. 

Hampton  Court,  /,  Wolsey  at,  134; 
conference  at,  164. 

Hanover,  House  of,  215;  224; 
238 ;  connection  with  Eng- 
land broken,  248.  See  Great 
Britain. 

Harfleur,  i,  iv,  vi;  ill. 

Harold  Hardrada,  49. 

Harold  I.  and  II.  See  England, 
Sovereigns  of. 

Harry  Hotspur,  killed,  109. 

Hastings,  port,  i,  Hi,  iv,  vi,  50. 
"     Warren,  trial  of,  235. 

Havana,  captured,  228. 

Havelock,  Gen.,  defends  Luck- 
now,  257. 

Hawkins,  John,  157. 

Heligoland,  captured,  240. 

Hengist,  18. 

Henrietta  Maria,  167;  175. 

Henry  of  Lancaster.  See  Eng- 
land, Sovereigns  of. 

Henry  I.,  II.,  III.,  IV.,  V.,  VI., 
VII.,  and  VIII.  See  Eng- 
land, Sovereigns  of 

Henry  II.,  of  France,  142;  153. 

Heptarchy,  19;  20;  25. 

Hilda,  Abbess,  53. 

Hindus,  225  ;  257. 

Hindustan,  v,  225  ;  war  in,  256- 
258. 

Hobbs,  philosopher,  204. 
Holderness,  Hi,  burnt,  49. 
Holland,  Danes  in,  26  ;  175;  com- 
merce  of,    185;    190;  193; 


Triple  Alliance  of,  194;  202; 
recognizes  United  States,  233  ; 
French  in,  236;  Belgium  sep- 
arates from,  247. 

Hong  Kong,  acquired,  261. 

Honorius,  Emperor,  18. 

Hooker,  Richard,  author,  160. 

Horsa,  18. 

Howard,  Catherine,  wife  of  Hen- 
ry VIII.,  141. 

Howard,  Lord,  of  Effingham,  de- 
feats Armada,  157. 

Howe,  Lord,  at  New  York,  232; 
relieves  Gibraltar,  234. 

Hubert  de  Burgh,  83. 

Hudson  Bay,  214. 

"     River,  193  ;  232. 

Huguenots,  170. 

Humber  River,  /,  it,  Hi,  vi,  31 ; 

Northmen  in,  39;  58. 
Hyde,  Anne,  wife  of  James  II., 

198. 

Iceni,  ii,  13. 

India,  v,  sea-route  to,  128;  160; 
164;  British  Empire  in,  225, 
256-258. 

Indus,  R.,  v,  256. 

Inkermann,  battle  at,  254. 

Innocent  III.,  Pope,  78-81. 

Inverness,  i,  223. 

Io/na,  ii,  20. 

Ipswich,  i,  vi,  134. 

Ireland,  /,  Christianity  in,  17,  19; 
Elgiva  in,  37;  Edgar  in,  38; 
Danes  in,  39,  49;  53;  con- 
quest of,  72-74;  92;  94;  104; 
Simnel  in,  129;  Tyrone's  Re- 
bellion, 158,  159;  Scotch  in, 
164;  Wentworth  in,  171;  re- 
bellion in,  173;  Cromwell  in, 
183  ;  William  of  Orange  in, 
208;  French  in,  236;  united 
with  Great  Britain,  237. 


Lon. 


INDEX. 


Ireton,  Gen.,  at  Naseby,  178;  179; 

dies,  185  ;  191. 
Isabella,  Queen  of  Edward  II., 

91;  her  conduct,  95;  96. 
Isabella  of  Spain,   130;  bigotry 

of,  149. 
Italy,  134;  147;  237. 

Jackson,  Gen.,  at  New  Orleans, 
243- 

Jamaica,  captured,  188;  233;  250. 

James  I.  and  II.  See  Great  Brit- 
ain, Sovereigns  of. 

James  I.  of  Scotland  captured,  109. 

James  IV.  of  Scotland,  favors 
Perkin  Warbeck,  130;  killed 
at  Flodden  Field,  133. 

James  V.  of  Scotland,  141. 

Jamestown,  settled,  164. 

J  arrow,  Bede  at,  ii,  Hi,  52. 

Jedburgh,  Hi,  90. 

Jeffreys,  Geo.,  Chief  Justice,  201. 

Jews,  persecuted,  75 ;  expelled, 
88,  89 ;  allowed  to  return, 
188. 

Joan  of  Arc,  her  career,  115. 

John,  King.  See  England,  Sov- 
ereigns of. 

John,  Duke  of  Lancaster.  See 
Gaunt,  yohn  of. 

J.udith  educates  Alfred,  27. 

Judith,  Lady,  wife  of  Waltheof, 
59;  60. 

Jutes,  in  Kent,  18 ;  20. 

Kenilworth  Castle,  i,  vi,  95. 
Kenmure,  Vise,  of,  beheaded,  219. 
Kent,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  Germans  land  in, 

18;  22;  24;  27;  Northmen 

land  in,  30. 
Killiecrankie,  battle  at,  207. 
Kinsale,  i,  208. 
Kirke,  Col.,  brutality  of,  201. 
Kloster  Seven,  Convention  of,  224. 


Knox,  John,  reformer,  153. 
Knut.   See  England,  Sovereigns  of. 

La  Hogue,  iv,  vi,  battle  of,  209. 
Lambert,  Gen.,  189. 
Lancaster,  E.  of,  beheaded,  95. 

"       Dukes  of.    See  John  of 
Gaunt  and  Henry  IV. 
Lanfranc,  primate,  59 ;  dies,  63. 
Langland,  poet,  107. 
Langton,  Steph.,  primate,  78-81. 
Lansdown  Hill,  battle  at,  176. 
Latimer,  Bishop,  burnt,  148. 
Laud,  Abp.  of  Canterbury,  171; 

beheaded,  173. 
Lauderdale,  Duke  of,  in  Cabinet, 

194 ;  Gov.  of  Scotland,  198. 
Leicester,  Earl  of.  See  Montfort. 
Leicestershire  (les'ter-),  i,  vi,  124. 
Leith,  vi,  battles  at,  153,  184. 
Leopold  I.  of  Belgium,  244;  247. 
Leslie,  Gen.,  in  command,  172; 

at  Dunbar,  184. 
Leuthen  (loi/ten),  battle  at,  224. 
Limerick,  i,  185;  Pacification  of, 

209. 

Lincoln,  i,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  battles  at, 
68,  83. 

Lindisfarne  I.,  ii,  20. 

Lisle,  Lady  Alice,  beheaded,  201. 

Livingstone,  explorer,  261. 

Lochlev'en,  i,  154. 

Locke,  John,  204. 

Loire  R.,  iv,  99,  114. 

London,  i-iii,  vi,  destroyed  by 
Britons,  14;  17;  23;  29;  Wi- 
tdn  at,  33;  besieged,  39; 
Knut  at,  42;  Godwin  at,  45; 
58;  French  in,  81;  Jews 
hanged  at,  88 ;  Wat  Tyler  in, 
102;  Jack  Cade  in,  117;  pro- 
gress of,  155;  favors  parlia- 
ment, 175;  occupied  by  the 
army,  1 79-181 ;  Monk  in,  189- 


28o 


INDEX. 


Lon. 


191  ;  fire  and  plague  in,  193  ; 
203;  Chartists  in,  251;  Ex- 
position at,  252. 

Londonderry,  i,  besieged,  208. 

Lo'thian,  3S ;  54. 

Louis  IV.  of  France,  35. 

"     VIII.  of  France,  Prince,  in 
England,  81  ;  83.  . 

Louis  XII.  of  France,  133. 

Louis  XIV.  of  France,  receives 
Chas.  II.,  185  ;  signed  Treaty 
of  Buda,  193  ;  Treaty  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  194;  aids  James 
II.,  202,  203;  revokes  Edict 
of  Nantes,  204;  recognizes 
Wm.  III.,  210;  in  his  old 
age,  214;  recognizes  Geo.  I., 
218;  dies,  219. 

Louis  XV.  of  France,  219. 

Louis  XVI.  of  France,  exec,  236. 

Louis  XVIII.  of  France,  244. 

Louis  Philippe,  247;  251. 

Louis  Napoleon.  See  Napoleon 
III. 

Louisbourg,  captured,  223. 
Lucknow,  v,  siege  of,  257. 
Luther,  reformer,  136,  137. 
Lutterworth,  vi,  106. 

Macbeth,  Thane  of  Moray,  46. 
Madras',  n,  225  ;  235. 
Madrid,  Chas.  I.  at,  167;  240. 
Magna  Charta,  79-82. 
Maine,  iv,  68  ;  99  ;  116. 
Malakoff,  fort,  254. 
Malcolm  I.,  K.  of  Scots,  36. 

II.  ,        »  38. 

III.  ,      -  46;  59. 
Malta,  acquired,  238;  253. 
Man,  Isle  of,  i-iii,  vi,  38. 
Manchester,  1,  Hi,  vi,  228;  244. 

"         Earl  of,  177. 
Mantes,  iv,  burnt,  61. 
Mar,  Earl  of,  revolt  of,  218. 


Margaret  of  Anj<su,  marries  Hen- 
ry VI.,  116;  in  the  War  of 
the  Roses,  117-121. 

Margaret  of  Norway,  89. 

Maria  Theresa  (te-ree'sil),  of  Aus- 
tria, 221-223. 

Marlborough,  Duke  of,  in  com- 
mand, 213;  in  disfavor,  214; 
assists  Pretender,  218. 

Marlborough,  Duchess  of,  favor- 
ite, 209;  dismissed,  214. 

Marston  Moor,  i,  battle  of,  176. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  born,  141 ; 
sent  to  France,  144;  widow 
of  Francis  II.,  1 53  ;  marries 
Darnley,  1 54 ;  imprisoned, 
155;  executed,  156  ;  157  ;  162. 

Mary  I.  and  II.  See  England  and 
drat  Britain ,  Sovereigns  of. 

Mary  of  Modena,  marries  James 
II.,  198;  203. 

Masham,  Mrs.  favorite,  214. 

Massachusetts,  settled,  165;  223; 
charter  annulled,  230;  Revo- 
lution begins,  231. 

Matilda  of  England,  marries  C. 
of  Anjou,  66;  invades  Eng- 
land, 67;  dies,  68;  136. 

Matilda  of  Flanders,  Queen  of 
William  I.,  60,  61. 

Matilda  of  Scotland,  Queen  of 
Henry  I.,  65. 

Maximilian,  Emp.  death  of,  134. 

Mediterranean,  214;  224;  237. 

Mee'rut,  v,  massacre  at,  257. 

Melbourne,  founded,  259. 

Melrose,  /,  vi,  20. 

Menai,  Strait,  ti\  13. 

Mercia,  ui,  20;  23,  24. 

Methven,  i,  battle  at,  93. 

Middlesex,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  20. 

Mil'an,  134;  Decree,  240. 

Milford  Haven,  i,  vi,  124. 

Milton,  John,  poet,  191. 


Nor. 


INDEX. 


281 


Minorca,  acquired,  214;  seized 

by  the  French,  224 ;  restored 

to  Eng.,  228;  lost,  233,  234. 
Mississippi  River,  224. 
Molda/via,  seized  by  Russia,  252 ; 

lost,  253. 
Mona,  Island  of,  it,  13. 
Monk,  Gen.,  subdues  Scotland, 

185;  aids  Restoration,  189; 

Duke  of  Albemarle,  191. 
Monmouth,  D.  of,  in  Rye  House 

plot,  197;  at  Bothwell  Br., 

198  ;  assumes  royal  title,  200 ; 

executed,  201. 
Montfort,  Simon  de,  made  Earl 

of  Leicester,  84 ;  summoned 

a  parliament,  85. 
Montrose,  Marquis  of,  184. 
Morcar,  Earl  of  Northumberland, 

48 ;  defeated  at  York,  49 ;  50. 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  beheaded,  138. 
Mortimer,  Roger,  Earl  of  March, 

95;  119. 

Mortimer,  Edmund,  E.  of  March, 

108;  in. 
Moscow,  burnt,  243. 
Mountjoy,  Lord,  159. 
Murray,  Earl  of,  Regent,  154. 

Najera  (na-ha'rii),  100. 
Nantwich,  vi\  battle  at,  176. 
Naples,  134,  147. 
Napoleon  I.,  early  career,  237; 

threatens  to  invade  Eng.,  238; 

emperor,    238-240 ;  invades 

Russia,  243 ;   at  St.  Helena, 

243- 

Napoleon  III.,  in  Eng.,  251  ;  em- 
peror, 252  ;  joins  England  in 
Crimean  War,  252. 

Naseby,  i,  vi,  battle  at,  178. 

Navarino  (-e'no),  nav.  bat.  at,  246. 

Navarre,  iv,  132. 

Nelson,  Lord,  adm.,  at  battle  of 
Eng.— 24. 


Nile,  237;  at  West  Indies, 
238;  killed  off  Trafalgar,  239. 

Netherlands,  trade  with  Eng.,  129, 
131;  Chas.  V.  inherits,  134; 
Revolt  of,  155;  in  Triple  Al- 
liance, 194;  210;  becomes 
Batavian  Republic,  236;  247. 

New  Amsterdam,  becomes  New 
York,  193. 

New  England,  settled,  164,  165; 

185- 

New  Forest,  w\  64,  65. 
New  Model,  177,  178. 
New  Orleans,  battle  at,  243. 
New  South  Wales,  convicts  sent 
to,  258. 

New  York,  formerly  New  Amster- 
dam, 193  ;  252  ;  260. 

New  Zealand,  259. 

Newark,  1,  81,  178. 

Newbury,  ?,  battle  at,  176. 

Newcastle,  ?,  vt\  coal  at,  98. 
"         Duke  of,  224;  228. 

Newfoundland,  214. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  204. 

Newtown  Butler,  vi\  bat.  at,  208. 

Niagara,  Fort,  taken,  225. 

Nicholas  I.,  Czar,  in  Crimean 
War,  252-254. 

Nightingale,  Florence,  254. 

Nithisdale,  Earl  of,  219. 

Norfolk,  Hi,  vi,  20. 

"     2d  Duke  of.    See  Surrey^ 

Earl  of. 
"      3d  Duke  of,  142. 
"      4th  Duke  of.    See  Surrey, 
Earl  of. 

Norham  Castle,  89. 

Normandy,  iv,  Northmen  in,  38; 
invaded  by  Ethelred,  39,  40; 
under  Duke  Rolf,  40  ;  Harold 
II.  in,  47;  under  William  I., 
58-62  ;  under  Robert,  62,  65 ; 
under  Henry  I.,  66;  lost  by 


282 


INDEX. 


Nor. 


John,  78;  Henry  V.  in,  112. 

Normans,  expelled  from  Eng.,  49; 
conquer  Eng.,  50;  59. 

North  Allerton,  vi,  battle  at,  67. 

North,  Lord,  Fred.,  E.  of  Guilford, 
prime  minist.,  230;  his  Amer- 
ican policy,  233  ;  resigns,  234. 

Northmen.    See  Danes. 

Northumberland,  vi,  37,  38;  133. 
"  E.  of,  in  rebel.,  108,  109. 
"  Duke  of,  treason  of,  145  ; 
executed,  146. 

Northumbria,  m,  20;  22;  31; 
under  Athelstan,  35 ;  revolt 
in,  37;  divided,  37. 

Norway,  26  ;  39  ;  49. 

Nottingham,  i,  w,  vi,  95  ;  Chas.  I. 
at,  176. 

Nova  Scotia,  settled,  223. 

Oates,  Titus,  Popish  Plot  of,  195, 

196;  tried,  200. 
O'Brien,  Smith,  251. 
O'Connell,   in   Parliament,   246 ; 

251. 

Odo,  Abp.  of  Canterbury,  37. 

"    Bp.  of  Bayeux,  plot  of,  60,  61. 
OfTa,  King  of  Mercia,  constructs 
dyke,  23 ;  murders  Ethelbert, 

23 ;  30- 

Olaf,  King  of  Sweden,  42. 
Oldcastle,  Sir  John,  executed,  1 10. 
Oltenit'za,  battle  at,  253. 
Omar  Pasha,  253. 
Opium  trade  in  China,  261. 
Orange,  William,  Prince  of.  See 

Great  Britain,  Sovereigns  of. 
Orkneys,  i,  38;  49;  89;  Spanish 

Armada  at,  158. 
Orleans,  iv,  besieg.  by  Eng.,  114; 

relieved  by  Joan  of  Arc,  115. 
Orleans,  Dukes  of,  prisoner,  112; 

Regent  of  France,  219;  Louis 

Philippe,  247. 


Ormond,  Marquis  of,  quits  Ireland, 

183. 

Oro/sius,  30. 

Oude,  v,  235  ;  257. 

Oxford,  i-iii,  vi,  meeting  at,  85  ; 

martyrs  at,  148 ;  loyal  to  Chas. 

I.,  175;  178;  parliam't  at,  196. 
Oxford,  Univ.   of,  founded,  54; 

under  Henry  III.,   86,  87; 

John  Wicliffe  at,  106 ;  Christ 

Church  founded,  134:  262. 

Palestine,  64 ;  Richard  I.  in,  76. 

Palmerston,  Lord,  minister,  247; 
premier,  254. 

Pandolf,  papal  legate,  79. 

Paris,  iv,  90;  95;  Edw.  III.  near, 
97;  Henry  V.  in,  112;  Henry 
VI.  crowned  at,  114;  French 
recover,  115;  Treaty  of,  228 ; 
243 ;  Exposition  at,  252 ;  Peace 
of,  255. 

Parliament,  rise  of  English,  79, 
85,  91,  166,  171,  189;  Long, 
173-186;  of  Gt.  Britain,  214; 
of  United  Kingdom,  237; 
263-265. 

Parr,  Catherine,  queen  of  Henry 

VIII.,  142. 
Paskievitch,  Prince,  253. 
Pauli'nus,  Abp.  of  York,  23. 
Pavia,  Francis  captured  at,  135. 
Pedro  the  Cruel,  K.  of  Castile,  100. 
Peel,  Sir  Robert,  in  cabinet,  246 ; 

premier,  248. 
Pembroke,  Earls  of,  Strongbow, 

72;  Protector  of  Henry  III., 

83- 

Penn,  William,  205. 
Pennsylvania,  founded,  205,  206. 
Percy,  Henry.     See  Northumber- 
land, Duke  of. 
Perth,  i,  218. 
Peterborough,  ?,  Hi,  54. 


Rus. 


INDEX. 


283 


Philip  II.  of  Fiance,  76-79. 
"      IV.        "  90,  91  ;  96. 

"      VI.        "  96-98. 
"      II.  of  Spain,  marries  Mary, 
146,  147;   leaves  Eng.,  148, 
149;  succeeds  Chas.  V.,  149; 
152;  severity  in  Holland,  155; 
sends  Armada,  157;  intrigues 
in  Ireland,  158. 
Philip,  Duke  of  Anjou,  210. 
Philippa  of  Hainault,  Queen  of 

Edward  III.,  98. 
Philippine  Islands,  228. 
Phoenicians,  visit  England,  10,  11. 
Piers  the  Plowman.  See  Langland. 
Pinkie,  battle  at,  144. 
Pitt,  William,  Earl  of  Chatham, 
224-227;  230;  233. 
(son),  235-239;  254. 
Pittsburgh,  225. 

Plantagenets,  origin  of,  66.  See 
England,  Sovereigns  of 

Plautius,  Aulus,  in  England,  12. 

Plombieres,  218. 

Poitiers,  iv,  battle  at,  98. 

Poitou  (pwii-too')?  iv,  78. 

Pole,  Cardinal,  papal  legate,  147; 
Abp.  of  Canterbury,  148. 

Pomfret,  139. 

Pope,  Alexander,  poet,  215. 

Portland,  vi,  naval  battle  off,  186. 

Porto  Bello,  captured,  221. 

Portugal,  French  in,  240;  pro- 
tected by  England,  246. 

Prague,  106;  165. 

Preston,  i,  vi,  battle  at,  179. 

Prestonpans,  vi,  battle  of,  222. 

Pride,  Col.,  purges  House,  I  So. 

Prussia,  in  Seven  Years  War,  223  ; 
in  Holy  Alliance,  244;  252. 

Punjab,  v,  256. 

Quebec,  captured  by  Gen.  Wolfe, 
225. 


Raglan,  Lord,  in  Crimea,  254. 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  160-163. 
Ram/illies,  battle  at,  213. 
Ravenspur,  ?,  104. 
Reading,  i,  Hi,  vi,  captured,  176. 
Redan,  fort,  254. 
Regency,  The,  241-245. 
Restoration,  The,  189-191. 
Rheims,  iv,  1 15  ;  155. 
Rhine,  vi,  194. 
Rhuddlan  Castle,  ii,  88. 
Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  84,  85. 

I.,   II.,   III.    See  Eng- 
land, Sovereigns  of. 
Ridley,  Bishop,  burnt,  148. 
Rizzio,  murdered,  154. 
Robert  of  Normandy,  in  rebellion, 

60-66. 
Rochelle',  iv,  170. 
Rochester,  ii,  vi,  72;  taken,  81. 
Rodney,    Adm.,  defeats  French, 

233. 

Rohillas,  conquest  of,  235. 
Rolf,   the  Dane,   Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, 40. 
Romans,  11-18. 

Rome,  12;  English  slaves  in,  22; 

Athelstan  and  Alfred  in,  27 ; 

Knut  in,  43  ;  136 ;  Stuarts  at, 

219;  French  in,  237. 
Rooke,    Adm.,    takes  Gibraltar, 

213. 

Rossbach,  battle  at,  224. 

Rouen  (roo-oN/),  i,  iv,  vi,  40;  49; 

captured,  112. 
Roxburgh,  i,  76 ;  90. 
Runnimede,  i,  79. 
Rupert,    Prince,   in   Civil  War, 

175-178;  185. 
Russell,  Lord  Wm.,  197. 

"  Lord  John,  in  Cabinet,  247. 
Russia,  trade  with  England,  157; 

opposes   Napoleon   I.,  238, 

239;  makes  peace,  240;  in- 


284 


INDEX. 


Rus. 


vasion  of,   243  ;  joins  Holy 
Alliance,  244 ;   246 ;   in  Cri- 
mean War,  252-255. 
Ryswick,  Peace  of,  210. 

Saladin,  Sultan,  76. 
Salem,  Mass.,  230. 
Santa  Cruz,  victory  at,  188. 
Savannah,    first   ocean  steamer, 
261. 

Savoy,  Duchess  of,  212. 
"      Duke  of,  219. 

Saxons,  invade  England,  16;  20; 
23;  government  of,  31;  con- 
quered, 59. 

Scarborough,  i-iii,  vif  burnt,  49. 

Schomberg,  Marshal,  in  Ireland, 
208. 

Scinde,  v,  annexed  to  British  In- 
dia, 256. 

Scone,  i9  90 ;  Bruce  crowned  at, 
92 ;  96 ;  Charles  II.  crowned 
at,  184. 

Scotland,  *,  u\  in,  name  of,  17; 
Irish  monks  in,  20;  Edward 
I.  over-lord  of,  31  ;  acquires 
Strathclyde,  36 ;  gains  Lo- 
thian, 38 ;  Siward  invades, 
46;  Saxons  in,  59;  60;  sub- 
mits to  Henry  II.,  73 ;  Ed- 
ward L  in,  89,  90,  92 ;  under 
Wm.  Wallace,  91,  92;  gains 
independence,  94,  95  ;  Edw. 
III.,  95,  96;  under  Robert 
III.,  109;  Mary,  infant  Queen 
of,  141  ;  Somerset  in,  143, 
144;  Reformation  in,  152, 
153;  Mary  returns  to,  153, 
resigns,  154 ;  James  VI.,  154, 
162  ;  Monk  in,  185;  Drunken 
Parliament,  192;  persecution 
in,  198;  proclaims  Wm.  and 
Mary,  207 ;  united  to  Eng- 
land, 213;  Pretender  in,  218; 


Young  Pretender  in,  222 ;  rep- 
resentation, 263. 

Scots,  crossed  from  Ireland,  17  ; 
defeated  by  Britons,  18;  at 
Brunanburgh,  35,  36;  54; 
defeated  by  Henry  II.,  73; 
submit  to  Edward  I.,  89;  at 
Bannockburn,  95;  108;  Cov- 
enanters, 172,  173;  allied 
with  Parliament,  176;  sur- 
render Chas.  I.,  178;  defeated 
by  Cromwell,  179;  protest 
against  trial  of  Chas.  I.,  181  ; 
proclaim  Chas.  II.,  183  ;  hold 
out  for  James  II.,  207;  at 
Glencoe,  208. 

Scrope,  Abp.,  rebels,  109. 

Sedgemoor,  z,  battle  of,  201. 

Senlac,  m\  battle  at,  50. 

Sepoys,  226 ;  rebel,  256. 

Sevastopol,  siege  of,  253,  254. 

Severn  River,  t'-w,  vi,  23. 

Severus,  Emperor,  14. 

Seymour,  Jane,  Queen  of  Henry 
VIII.,  140. 

Seymour,  Lord  Thos.,  exec,  144. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  196. 

Shakespeare,  Wm.,  poet,  160. 

Sharp,  Abp.,  murdered,  198. 

Sheerness,  vi,  captured,  193. 

Shoreham,  vi,  185. 

Shrewsbury,  /,  m,  vi,  battle  at, 
109. 

Sicily,  76;  84. 

Sidney,  Algernon,  beheaded,  197. 
Sikhs,  conquest  of,  256. 
Sile/sia,  Fred.  Great  in,  221. 
Silistria,  siege  of,  253. 
Silures,  12. 

Simnel,  imposter,  129. 
Simon,  priest,  129. 
Siward,  invades  Scotland,  46. 
Smith  John,  at  Jamestown,  164. 
"     Sir  Sidney,  at  Acre,  237. 


Tud. 


INDEX. 


285 


Solway  Firth,  i-iii,  vi,  14. 

"       Moss,  i,  vi,  battle  at,  141. 

Somerset,  iv,  Alfred  in,  28. 

Somerset,  Duke  of,  killed  at  St. 
Abans,  118. 

Somerset,  Duke  of,  Edward  Sey- 
mour, Protector,  143  ;  at  Pin- 
kie, beheaded,  144. 

Somme  River,  vi,  97. 

Sophia,  Electress,  206;  212-215. 

Southampton,  iv,  vi,  157. 

Spain,  26;  Black  Prince  in,  100; 
John  of  Gaunt  in,  103 ;  under 
Chas.  V.,  134-136;  194;  suc- 
cession in,  210,  214;  war  with, 
227,  228;  Wellington  in,  240; 
246. 

Speke,  Capt.  John,  explorer,  261. 

Spenser,  Edmund,  poet,  160. 

St.  Albans,  i,  Hi,  vi,  burnt,  1 1 ; 
14;  battle  at,  118. 

St.  Christopher,  acquired,  214. 

St.  Lawrence,  R.,  224;  228. 

St.  Vincent  C,  battle  off,  237. 

Stafford,  Lord,  Wm.  Howard,  ex- 
ecuted, 196,  197. 

Stamford  Bridge,  i,  battle  at,  49. 

Steele,  Richard,  215. 

Stephen,  King  of  Hungary,  42. 

Stigand  Abp.  50. 

Stirling,  bat.  near,  92;  154;  222. 

Stoke  upon  Trent,  vi,  bat.  at,  129. 

Stonehenge,  ii,  12. 

Strafford,  Earl  of,  Thomas  Went- 
worth,  serves  Charles  I.,  171  ; 
impeached,  173. 

Strathclyde,  ii,  Hi,  19;  31;  36. 

Strongbow.    See  Clare,  Richard  de. 

Stuart,  Arabella,  162. 

Stuart,  James  Francis  Edward,  the 
Pretender,  born,  202 ;  pro- 
claimed James  III.  by  Louis 
XIV.,  210;  invades  Scotland, 
218,  219. 


Stuart,  Chas.  Edward,  the  Young 
Pretender,  invades  Scotland, 
222  ;  defeated  at  Culloden 
Moor,  223. 

Suetonius,  in  Britain,  13,  14. 

Suffolk,  Hi,  vi,  20;  95;  145. 

Surat,  v,  164. 

Surrey,  Earl  of,  defeats  Scots,  133. 

"  "     (grandson),  142. 

Sussex,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  20;  24;  27. 
Sweden,  in  Triple  Alliance,  194; 

219;  238. 
Sweyn  I.,  King  of  Denmark,  in 

England,  40. 
Sweyn  II.,  K.  of  Denmark,  43  ;  58. 
Sydney  Cove,  258. 
Syria,  Napoleon  in,  237. 

Tagus,  R.,  185. 
Tangiers',  195. 

Tees,  R.,  i-iii,  vi,  37;  38;  58. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  negotiates 
Triple  Alliance,  194. 

Terouenne',  iv,  132. 

Tewkesbury,     Hi,  battle  at,  121. 

Thames,  R.,  i-iii,  vi,  11  ;  North- 
men in,  39  ;  43  ;  45  ;  Dutch 
in,  193;  203. 

Thanet,  isle  of,  ii,  18. 

Theodo'sius,  in  Britain,  18. 

Ticondero'ga,  captured,  225. 

Tobago,  234. 

Tonstall,  Bishop,  146. 

Tor  Bay,  vi,  Wm.  lands  at,  202. 

Tostig,  brother  of  Harold,  48,  49. 

Touraine,  iv,  78,  99. 

Tournay',  iv,  129;  132;  133. 

Towton,  vi,  battle  at,  120. 

Trafalgar',  battle  at,  239. 

Trent,  affair  of,  260. 

Trieste',  239. 

Troyes,  iv,  Treaty  of,  1 1 2. 

Tudor,  Owen,  113;  119.  See 
England,  Sovereigns  of. 


266 


INDEX. 


Tur. 


Turkey,  Turks,  conquer  Palestine, 
64;  237;  war  with  Greeks,  246 ; 
in  Crimean  War,  252-255. 

Tweed,  i-iii,  vi,  38 ;  89. 

Tyburn,  95  ;  130;  191. 

Tyler,  Wat,  Rebellion  of,  102. 

Tyne,  R.,  /,  Hi,  v$9  14. 

Tyrone's  Rebellion,  158,  159;  164. 

Ulster,  rebellion  in,  173. 

United  Kingdom,  237. 

United  States,  independent,  233  ; 
234;  in  the  War  of  1812, 
242,  243 ;  Civil  War  in,  259, 
260. 

Utrecht,  Treaty  of,  214. 

Van  Tromp,  Dutch  admiral,  186. 

Vaudois,  persecution  of,  188. 

Versailles,  Treaty  of,  234. 

Vespasian,  in  England,  12. 

Vezelay,  iv,  crusaders  meet  at,  76. 

Victoria.  See  Great  Britain,  Sov- 
ereigns of. 

Vienna,  Richard  I.  at,  77;  Expo- 
sition at,  252. 

Villiers,  George.  See  Buckingham , 
Duke  of. 

Virginia,  164;  233. 

Vortigern,  British  prince,  18. 

Wakefield,  i\  vi,  battle  at,  118. 

Wales  and  Welsh,  i-iii,  vi,  Britons 
retreat  to,  12;  19;  Christians 
in,  23  ;  defeated  by  Offa,  23  ; 
31 ;  conspiracy  of,  35  ;  Edgar's 
victories  over,  38  ;  conquered 
by  E.  Harold,  <7;  60;  first 
Prince  of,  88  ;  108  ;  rebellion 
in,  108,  109. 

Wales,  Prince  of  (Black  Prince), 
at  Crecy,  96,  97;  in  Castile, 
dies,  100. 

Wallace,  Wm.,  91  ;  executed,  92. 


Wallachia,  seized  by  Russia,  252 ; 
lost,  253. 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  in  Cabinet, 
220,  221. 

Walsingham,  Sir  Francis,  in  Cab- 
inet, 151,  160. 

Waltheof,  59,  60. 

Warbeck,  Perkin,  impostor,  129, 
130. 

Warrenne',  Earl,  defeated,  92. 
Warwick,  Richard  Neville,  Earl 

of,  Kingmaker,  11 7-1 21. 
Warwick,  E.  of  (grandson),  129, 

130. 

Washington,  Gen.  Geo.,  in  com- 
mand, 231,  232. 

Washington  City,  burnt,  243 ; 
Treaty  of,  260. 

Waterford,  i,  158. 

Waterloo,  battle  at,  243. 

Watling  Street,  ii,  29  ;  54. 

Wellington,  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley, 
Duke  of,  in  Spain,  240;  at 
Waterloo,  243. 

Wentworth,  Thos.  See  Strafford, 
Earl  of. 

Wessex,  ii,  20;  24;  33. 

West  Indies,  238 ;  liberation  of 
slaves  in,  248. 

Western  Isles,  i,  31  ;  93. 

Westminister,  23  ;  founded,  48 ; 
Wm.  I.  crowned  in,  57  ;  Hen- 
ry I.  crowned  in,  65  ;  Plenry 
IV.  dies  in,  no;  122;  Hen- 
VII.  buried  in,  131;  Anne 
crowned  in,  213. 

Wexford,  i,  158;  stormed,  183. 

Weymouth,  i,  vi,  121. 

Whitby,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  abbey  at,  52,  53. 

Whitehall,  134;  181. 

Wicliffe,  John,  influence  of,  106- 
107. 

Wight,  Isle  of,  i-iv,  vi,  12 ;  45  ;  179. 
Wilberforce,  William,  248. 


Yor. 


INDEX, 


287 


William  I.,    II.,.  III.,    IV.  See 

England  and  Great  Britain, 
Sovereigns  of. 

Wilkes,  John,  trial  of,  228,  229. 

Windsor,  it  vi,  48. 

Winchester,  «,  Hi,  vi,  capital  of 
Wessex,  33;  50;  58;  treasury 
at,  65;  Bp.  of,  83;  Wolsey 
Bp.  of,  133  ;  Philip  and  Mary 
married  at,  147. 

Winchester,  Henry  of.  See  Eng- 
land, Sovereigns  of,  Hen.  IV. 

Wit'an,  31;  33;  42;  45;  46. 

Woden,  20;  29;  40;  65. 

Wolfe,  Gen.,  captures  Quebec, 
225. 

Wolsey,  Thomas,  Cardinal,  in 
power,  133  ;  his  splendor,  134; 
fall  of,  136,  137. 


Worcester   (woos/ter),    i-iii,  vi, 

battle  at,  184. 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  204. 
Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  rebels,  147. 
Wye,  River,  ii,  Hi,  vi,  23. 

York,  i-iii,  vi,  Roman  capital  of 
Britain,  15;  archbishopric, 
23  ;  Witan  at,  33  ;  battle  near, 
49 ;  first  English  library  at, 
53;  besieged,  58;  Jews  at, 
75;  118;  Charles  I.  in,  173; 
besieged,  176. 

York,  James,  Duke  of.  See  Great 
Britain,  Sov.  of,  James  II. 

York,  Richard,  Duke  of,  1 17; 
killed,  118. 

Yorkshire,  vi,  38. 

Yorktown,  surrendered,  233. 


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